The Gift of the Gods
by Creator2005
Summary: Arina is just an average twelve-year-old that has ADHD but has never met her father. Sound familiar? Join Arina as she uncovers her true parentage and helps her friends defeat monsters while a prophecy looms over them. (A/N: This story is from Arina's P.O.V.) (Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and alterations of the story) (Rated M because I'm paranoid)(Only constructive critic)
1. Who knew I'll nearly be killed on a trip

** (A/N Hello! I have branched out of writing TV show fanfics and ended up in the PJO and HOO fandom! I hope you enjoy my story, please no hate. This is my first fanfic based on a book. Thank you for giving this a shot! Updates will probably be slow because I have five other books going on at the same time.)**

"Arina, please stop tapping your feet." My teacher ordered as I stood impatiently beside her.

Ugh... don't you hate it when the teacher calls on you to do something? Today, Miss Mitchell said I looked 'lonely', so now I'm her partner for the field trip. _I _wanted to work with this new kid who just transferred, but NOOOOO, I'm stuck with my teacher who doesn't believe I'm ADHD. She just thinks I need some 'help'.

Miss Mitchell was this four foot five, mousy, brown-haired woman who always bossed around kids as if her life depended on it. I get she's a teacher an all, but can she lay off telling me I'm 'disruptive' and 'impulsive'.

"Well, we're justing standing here doing-" I began.

"We're observing the wildlife here, Cossy," Luther Davson pointed-out with a teasing look, flicking his blond hair to the side of his face.

"I told you to _stop_ calling me that stupid nickname." I hissed, clenching my fists and willing myself to not punch the smug look off his face.

Luther Davson, a basic jerk who can't even get my goddamn middle name right. It also sucks that he's taller than me by like three inches.

"There's nothing wrong with your middle name." Miss Mitchell stated, ignoring Luther's alterations to it.

My full name is Arina _Cosma_ Morales, but for some reason, my teacher thinks it's Cossy. My mum is an addict, but I don't think she could've been high enough to name me Cossy.

"Anyway, _what_ wildlife are you even talking about? There's nothing here but trees," I said, gesturing to all the oaks and pines surrounding us.

"Yeah, why aren't there any animals here, Miss Mitchell?" Asked one of my other classmates, Julia Thomas, who was fiddling with her notebook nervously.

"Hm... that is somewhat odd," Miss Mitchell agree before looking around.

"Maybe Cossy scared them off with her yelling." Luther snickered to his partner, which just so happened to be the person I wanted to be partners with.

"I wasn't yelling," I spat, crossing my arms.

"Maybe they were scared off by your-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled at him before losing my balance because of a miniature earthquake.

Massachusetts was on a 'spider web' of fault lines according to my old science teacher, so minor earthquakes always occurred. I've been experiencing earthquakes there since I was five, basically.

As quickly as the earthquake appeared, it was gone. Unfortunately, at that moment my teacher decided that I was being rude towards Luther.

"Arina, that's it, go to the school bus and wait there until the tour is over!" Miss Mitchell ordered, pointing towards the edge of the forest.

"But he-"

"And because you seem incapable of getting there without causing trouble, Julia, go with her." She finished, giving me a look that meant it was the end of the discussion.

"C'mon, let's go," Julia stated, giving me a sympathetic look before motioning me to follow her.

I gave my teacher and Luther one last glare before marching angrily with Julia towards our yellow school bus.

"Why does Miss Mitchell hate me so much?" I complained.

"I think she has a crush on Luther's dad, maybe that's why she's being so nice to his son," Julia suggested as we walked, twirling her brown hair.

"Well, I hope he doesn't like her," I spat.

Julia gave me another look before shaking her head. From there, we stopped talking. However, I did notice something change in her behaviour the moment we arrived at the school bus. Also, there were two adults I've never seen before whispering together in front of our bus.

"Hi, Mrs. Abercombie, hi, Miss Johnson," Julia greeted, seeming slightly dazed.

"Hello, sweetheart, what do we have here?" One of the adults asked, her voice sounding sickly sweet.

Another thing I noticed about them, they reeked. Damn, they smelled awful! How isn't Julia noticing it? Also, how does she know them?

"Arina got in trouble by Miss Mitchell," Julia elaborated, still seeming dazed.

"Oh, really?" The other lady asked.

"Who are you two?" I inquired suspiciously.

"Arina? What are you talking about? These are our teachers, we've had them all year." Julia seemed shocked that I didn't recognize them, her glassy blue eyes widening.

"Is this a joke?" I questioned her, turning to her skeptically.

"I'll let them watch you, I don't wanna miss anything. I'll give you my notes later," Julia said before waving to me and walking back to our class.

"C'mon deary, let's go for a walk." One lady stated, before leading me away from the school bus with the other lady trailing not too far behind her.

I cast one more look at my class and saw them all walking further into the woods, almost all of them completely ignoring me. Well, except for one kid who seemed confused about these two 'teachers'.

His name was Leo.

* * *

"Where are we going?" I asked Miss Johnson, finally figuring out who was who.

I stuffed my hands into my jean jacket's pockets, trailing behind the two smelly ladies.

Miss Johnson was about five feet tall, same with Mrs. Abercombie. However, Miss Johnson had this weird twitch on the left side of her face while Mrs. Abercombie had an odd limp. Otherwise, both of them seemed like relatively normal ladies.

"We're going for a walk to chat with you." Mrs. Abercombie answered me instead.

"Why?" Something about these two teachers seemed weird, for one, practically everyone seemed to think they're my teachers, and two, they smelled really odd.

I know I already said that, but they smelled REALLY weird. A solid 8.9 out of 10 for grossness.

"We want to talk to you about your, um... grades." Miss Johnson answered sweetly.

I nodded along, still feeling apprehensive about the duo. Something in my gut told me they were bad news, and my gut's usually right.

Well, in my opinion, it's right.

"Ah... a beautiful field, what a perfect place to have lunch." Mrs. Abercombie commented with a devilish grin, making me automatically tighten my backpack straps as we slowed to a stop at the edge of a field.

"W-what lunch?"

"You," both ladies suddenly turned into hideous vampire-like creatures before letting out a horrifying screech. I immediately ran.

I was running through the chest-high grass, which wasn't that tall for an adult but I'm extremely short, 4'5 to be exact. Not the ideal height when you're running for your life from monsters. Also, I didn't tie my auburn hair back so it kept on whipping in my face.

"I haven't smelled a demigod this delicious in years!" One of the monsters exclaimed in glee as she chased me.

_Did she say, demigod? That can't be-_ I thought before tripping over something and face planting into the ground.

"End of the line," the monster said, standing a metre away from me with a victorious grin. Unfortunately for it, that victory was short-lived.

Suddenly, a silver arrow impaled the creature causing it to explode into gold dust. The second monster glared to the right of the field and murmured something before bursting into dust too.

I pushed myself up carefully, popping my head above the grass carefully and seeing roughly two dozen girls around my age in silver parkas.

"Come with me," one of them stepped out of the forest. The moment I saw her, I knew she wasn't normal.

How did I know? Normal girls don't have silver eyes.

** (I'm transferring this story to Instagram so I'll be updating some of the older parts and editing them to my liking. Thank you for understanding!)**


	2. Scratch that, I've been saved by girls

** (A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed my first chapter and chose to continue reading! Don't worry, this won't be a cliché story about another demigod that's been added to the original story, well, I hope in your eyes it isn't. Anyway, back to Arina!) **

** PS, sorry in advance for messing up Zoë's accent and for messing up the order and stuff. I haven't read the books in a while.**

"Who are you guys?" I asked nervously.

After the girls saved me from the monsters I was being chased by, they brought me back to their camp. The leader, who I assume was the silvered-eye girl, led me into her tent where she said she'll explain everything to me.

"We're the Hunters of Artemis." A girl with dark hair introduced, appearing to have an accent of some sort.

Their camp had multiple tents that seemed quite small, all silver-coloured. There were also some wolves patrolling the sides and falcons watching overhead.

"Artemis? Like the goddess?" I exclaimed in shock.

I'm definitely getting pranked now. No way is this real... right?

"I am Zoë Nightshade," the girl stated, "I am the lieutenant of the hunters."

She had dark hair and volcanic eyes. Much like the other girls, she wore a silver parka and carried a bow over her shoulder. She also seemed to have a weird glow around her and a silver circlet on her head.

"W-why did you guys save me?"

"Because you are an innocent maiden who also appears to be a demigod." The girl with silver eyes elaborated, entering the tent before placing her bow beside the stool I chose to sit on.

The tent was filled with a cot, some extra bows and arrows, several animal pelts, and a silvery chest. The walls were also silver, which seemed to be the main colour scheme of the tent. It was quite larger on the inside than I thought.

"Y-you're..."

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt, childbirth, the moon, and archery." The twelve-year-old girl suddenly turned into a full adult, still retaining her other physical features.

"Um... should I bow or..." I was lost for words. I wasn't sure what to do, should I bow? Should I even make eye contact with her?

"It is fine, if you were a male, however, I would've made you kneel and castrate you by now," Artemis answered quickly, making me glad I was a girl.

"What were those things that attacked me?" I inquired, gaining some of my confidence back.

"Empousai,"

"Empos-what?"

"They're monsters who are attracted to the smell of demigods," Zoë explained briefly.

"On another note, how much do you know about Greek mythology?" Artemis questioned me carefully.

After fifteen minutes of explaining, I finally understood what had happened and will happen. My father, who I have never met, was a god of some sort, making me a demigod because my mother was human. Turns out all the myths about Zeus, Hades, cyclops, and all that junk were real. However, mortals can't see it because of something called the Mist, which distorts what happens so humans can understand it better. On the other hand, because I'm half-god, I can see through the Mist, which was why I could tell the empousai weren't my actual teachers.

If I wasn't attacked by empousai I would've thought this was some sort of elaborate prank- but of course, it's not because my life literally sucks.

"Now thee have two options, Arina, thou could either go to Camp Half-Blood or join us in the Hunt, gaining immortality except if thee were wounded in battle, forever serving Lady Artemis, but swearing off the company of men." Zoë described briefly my two options.

According to them, Camp Half-Blood was a place where demigods stay, almost completely being protected from monsters. However, I noticed that Artemis and the hunters didn't seem to like it because it was filled with 'filthy' boys.

"Um... I'm not sure if I would join the Hunt or not. Camp Half-Blood sounds cool, but the Hunt does seem interesting. I'm not sure about swearing off men..." I admitted to the goddess and her lieutenant nervously, worried about their reactions.

You see, I like guys too much- sorry for succumbing to heteronormativity.

"I understand your decision, but you can always contact me if you ever change your mind." Artemis nodded, not showing if she approves or disapproves of my judgement.

"Um... how do I get to Camp Half-Blood exactly?"

"Would you like to go back home first and tell your-"

"She wouldn't care, I'll be surprised if she realized I left for a field trip." I spat, not wanting to ever see my wretched mother again.

Two words: drug addict. That's my crappy ass mother for you. Also, she's the reason I'm an only child now- I don't want to talk about that though.

"Okay... do you have what you need in your bag?" Artemis asked me, gesturing towards the dark blue bag at my feet.

"It's just my school stuff, but nothing important," I answered.

"You can have a hunter's parka if you wish," Artemis pulled a silver parka much like the one she was wearing out of a trunk.

"Um, that's fine, I'll figure something out," I replied quickly.

"Okay, if we head out now, we'll be able to make it to camp by sunrise," Artemis said, standing up and gesturing to Zoë to tell the other hunters.

Packing up their camp was amazing to watch. Every move was precise and calculated, everyone worked together perfectly. In a matter of seconds, the campsite was empty.

"Hunters, let's head out to Camp Half-Blood, I have a meeting to head to," Artemis told the hunters before leading the group out of the forest clearing we were in.

Then we were off.

Along the walk, I talked to Zoë, Phoebe, and Hunter, two girls that introduced themselves once we started the trek.

"You're a hunter, that's name is Hunter?" I inquired skeptically.

Hunter wore a similar outfit to the rest, but she had camouflage pants and black hiking boots as well. She had dark hair and dark eyes as well.

"Yes, I get that a lot," Hunter grumbled in annoyance.

"How long have you guys been in the Hunt?" I asked the trio.

"Hundreds of years, I've lost count by now," Phoebe answered with a shrug.

Phoebe wore the same outfit but she had auburn hair like me and light brown eyes while mine was dark.

"I agree." Zoë and Hunter nodded along.

"Are you guys demigods too?" I remembered Zoë mentioning some mortals join the Hunt because they're clear-sighted mortal, having the abilities to see through the Mist.

"We are," Phoebe and Hunter stated in unison before glaring at each other.

"Daughter of Apollo," Phoebe elaborated.

"Daughter of Ares," Hunter added.

I looked at Zoë, who had said nothing and appeared to be distracting herself by talking to a blonde hunter named Naomi, I think.

"Don't talk about the topic of parents in front of her, it's a touchy subject," Hunter whispered in explanation.

I nodded my head, understanding that if Zoë wanted to tell me who were her parents, she'll do it in her own time.

"Here is, Camp Half-Blood," after hours of walking, which by the way is painful, we had arrived in Long Island, New York. Don't ask how that was even possible.

From the hill we stood on, I could see the whole camp. There were many cabins, twelve in all for each Olympian I presume. There was an amphitheatre, an area, a big pavilion, a big blue building with a wrap-around porch, and some other things I couldn't see very well because they were so far away.

"Lady Artemis! It's wonderful to see you and your hunters here again!" A man riding a horse- no, a man-horse? Wait, what?

"That's Chiron, the activities director at the camp, he's a centaur," Hunter whispered to me as I stared at him in shock.

Of course, what's next? A man that can turn people into dolphins?

"I'm leaving my hunters here because my father has requested a council meeting, something about losing one of his many toys." Artemis elaborated, seeming quite annoyed and bored by her father.

"Of course, long as they don't castrate any boys we'll welcome them with open arms," Chiron stated, earning some groans of annoyance from the hunters.

"That's fine," Artemis replied before turning towards the hunters, "I expect you girls to win Capture the Flag." She added with a wink before flashing out of the clearing.

Yes, flash. Her body went bright and Hunter turned me away from it- something about dying. Apparently, mortals can't see the gods' divine form, aka the bright light thing, or else you'll die. Fun, right?

"Chiron, this Arina, she's a demigod we found in Massachusetts that said she wanted to come to Camp Half-Blood," Phoebe introduced me to the infamous trainer of Greek heroes.

Chiron nodded in my direction before we all stepped into the camp, which I noticed had this thin veil-like curtain surrounding it. _Probably to hide the camp from mortals..._ I thought quickly.

"I'll get one of the campers to give-" was all Chiron was able to get out before he was interrupted by a scream of glee.

"ARINA!"

"ANNIE!" I exclaimed before being tackled by a blonde figure.

The blonde figure was my best friend growing up- Annabeth Chase. She had kind of curly blonde hair and calculating grey eyes. She wore an orange shirt with the words 'Camp Half-Blood' written on them and some faded jeans along with it. She also had this leather necklace with five beads on it and a ring.

"You're a demigod?" She inquired excitedly, pulling me up after knocking me over.

"Yeah! You are too?"

"Yep, daughter of Athena," Annabeth said proudly.

"Well, that makes sense, you were always making elaborate plans since we were kids. What happened in the past couple of years?" I questioned curiously.

About five years ago, Annabeth came to my apartment and told me she was running away from her parents and asked me to come along. She told me her family hated her and met two older kids who were willing to take care of her. Annabeth wanted me to join her, but I said I couldn't leave because my brother would be stuck all alone with my crackhead mum. From there, I never saw Annabeth ever again. Unfortunately, I should have gone with Annabeth and took my brother because a year ago, my brother went missing and was never found again.

_That's_ why I hate my mom.

"I travelled and ended up here with Luke and Thalia," when Annabeth said Thalia's name, she seemed suddenly sad. I decided I didn't need to press on on that subject.

"Wow, that's so cool!"

"Who's your parent?" Annabeth asked afterwards.

"Um..."

"It's fine, Arina, not all demigods get claimed right away. You'll find out eventually, but until then, you can stay in the Hermes' cabin with the other unclaimed children," Chiron explained, trotting over to us.

"Can I give her the tour?" Annabeth questioned, eager to spend more time with me.

"Yes, Annabeth, you can," before I could say anything, Annabeth grabbed my arm and started giving me the tour.

(The tour's gonna be the same as the one Chiron gave to Percy during the first book so I'm gonna skip it)

"Anyway, this is your temporary cabin until you're claimed," Annabeth said, gesturing towards the cabin in front of us with a caduceus and the number eleven above the door.

"Isn't it-"

"Small? No, they're quite spacious," Annabeth admitted before fixing her hair and knocking on the door.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Annabeth, new camper? I could've sworn it was a he," a tall blond guy said to Annabeth.

He was decent looking, besides for this large scar running down on one side of his face that ruined his look. He was tall, so I presume maybe he was seventeen or something. He also wore an orange tee-shirt and necklace with five beads on it, but he had brown shorts as well.

"Percy? He-he's still in the Bighouse, this is-is-is Arina, she hasn't been claimed yet." Annabeth, turning bright red the more she stuttered in front of this guy.

Hmm... it seems like she has a crush.

"Cool, I'm Luke, son of Hermes," Luke offered me his hand, which I shook briefly.

"Anyway, I'll leave you guys, Chiron wants me to check on Percy again," Annabeth stated, turning away and running towards the Bighouse, nearly running into a cluster of hunters.

"Well, welcome to the Hermes' cabin," Luke pushed the door out and motioned me to follow him inside.

Once inside, I was shocked by the vast size of the room. Damn, Annie was right about this place being huge! There were like six bunk beds, but the whole area seemed to be mostly filled with sleeping bags and various demigods.

"You can put your bag in here, then we can head to Armoury so we can pick out a weapon for you," Luke said as I handed him my bag, him placing it on the ground.

"What was Artemis talking about when she mentioned Capture the Flag?" I asked Luke as we walked passed the arena on our way to the Armoury.

Most of the campers had orange shirts and bead necklaces too, but most of them had fewer beads than Luke and Annabeth. There were also some other creatures, like guys with goat legs and I think nymphs?

"The Hunters are here? She was talking about the game we have against cabins every Friday, but when the Hunters of Artemis are here, we go against them. They have a winning streak of fifty-four nonstop wins," Luke explained to me.

"Woah, that's amazing!"

"Eh, not for the Ares' cabin's pride though," Luke stated with the shake of his head.

We continued walking, having a small chat about camp and junk. Soon we arrived at the Armoury to choose my weapon.

The Armoury was this smallish cabin with weapons lining the walls and boxes filled with junk. Swords, axes, daggers, bows, you name it.

"What do you know how to use?" Luke asked, rummaging around for a weapon for me.

"Um... I never actually used a weapon before, so I guess none?"

"Hmm... how about this," he handed me a bow and a quiver with seven arrows that seemed to be made out of bronze.

"Celestial Bronze, one of the only things that can kill a monster." Luke answered my unasked question, "Try firing a few at that target." He motioned towards a beat-up looking target across from me outside of the cabin.

I pulled back an arrow on the bow, knowing immediately that this wouldn't end well. The moment I fired, it hit a baseball bat in an adult saytr's, the goat men, arms that was walking by.

"HEY! WHO DID THAT? CASTELLAN WAS IT YOU?" yelled an angry-looking satyr, glaring at Luke despite how small he was in comparison.

Luke, who was trying not to laugh, manage to say, "Sorry, Hedge, it was Arina, she's new."

The satyr, Hedge, stared at me carefully, sizing me up, which would be quite quick because I was practically half a foot shorter than him.

"I'm watching you, Arina," Hedge said, doing the hand gesture that accompanied his comment before backing away.

"Maybe the bow isn't the ideal weapon, maybe a broad sword? Or we could always go with a dagger..." Luke kept on talking, but something suddenly caught my eye on a shelf in the Armoury.

"What about this?"

I held up twin, curved blades. They felt perfect in my hands like they _belonged_ to me.

"Oh, those are twin Imperial Gold siccae blades, wanna try them out?" Luke inquired, watching me carefully just in case I attacked another unsuspecting satyr.

"No... I think these are just right, but they seem like a hassle to carry around." I pointed-out as I held one in each hand.

Suddenly, as if the blades could understand what I said, it turned into two rings on both of my hands. They were probably both Imperial Gold, but they had this etching I didn't see on the blades. It was of a fire symbol with three dots circling it.

"Woah," was all I manage to say.

"Hmm... you want to try a sword out too?" Luke questioned, his tone changing suddenly to something I couldn't decipher.

"Um... sure."

Luke threw me a sword before grabbing one for himself.

"Let's spar." Luke walked me outside before lunging, aiming for my undefended left, which I quickly blocked.

I feinted an attack to his knees, but he expected it and made a slash to my right, leaving a small cut on my hand.

"Wait," I quickly threw off the jean jacket I was wearing onto a box.

Luke seemed taken back for a second by me taking off my jacket, revealing that I was just wearing a simple dark red tank top underneath before I swept his feet out from under him with my leg.

"Nice move," Luke complimented before springing up and diving to my right, trying to hit my knees. I quickly sprung back, but I lost my balance and nearly fell over before I stabbed the blade into the ground, using it as a pole similar to the ones used in pole vaulting, propelling myself over Luke and putting the blade to the back of his neck.

"Yield?"

"I yield," Luke turned around and congratulated me on the good match.

"Arina! That was amazing!" I turned around and realized Annabeth and another boy were watching us in shock.

The moment I saw the boy, I felt my heart rate increase even more than it was from the match. Something about him was so... attractive. He had black hair that was quite messy and dazzling sea-green eyes that I tried not to stare at too long.

"Um... thanks," I replied sheepishly.

"Oh, this is Percy, he's new too." Annabeth introduced the boy next to her.

"Hi," I greeted awkwardly.

"Hey," he responded with an equal amount of discomfort as me.

"Guess you'll won't be the only one new in cabin eleven." Luke nodded towards Percy before walking off towards a cluster of older looking campers.

After he walked off, I finally noticed Annabeth's clothes seemed a bit wet.

"What happened to your clothes?"

"Um, Clarisse's 'initiation' went a little haywire." Annabeth elaborated cryptically even though I didn't know who Clarisse was.

"Anyway, it's getting late, we should head to the Dining Pavilion for dinner." She added before leading us away from the Armoury.

I quickly grabbed my jacket and returned the sword before following her and Percy.

"This place is pretty bizarre, right?" Percy inquired as we walked a bit behind Annabeth.

"Eh, I was saved by a group of man-hating hunters before I got here, so I guess it isn't _that_ weird," I admitted with a shrug.

"Really?" Percy exclaimed.

"Yep," I nodded before noticing something he was holding.

"What's that?"

The thing in his hands was a curved piece of, stone? It was hard to tell.

"Um... the Minotaur's horn..." Percy explained quietly.

I took that as a sign I shouldn't press further, but I was still quite curious about how he got something like that.

"I'm guessing you don't know who's your godly parent?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Nope, what about you?"

"Not in the slightest,"

"Hope you guys are hungry, 'cause we're here," Annabeth stated, ending our short conversation.

**(A/N: This chapter got too long so I guess you have to wait until I post the next chapter. Cya guys soon!)**

** Update: I have edited this chapter, again, and made some changes to it. I have added some detail and changed some bits. However, I have not went over my additions yet.**


	3. I hate Clarisse La Rue

** (A/N: As I mentioned in the last chapter, I'll continue from when the kids entered the Dining Pavilion. Enjoy!)**

The Dining Pavilion was crowded, filled with kids ranging from five to I bet eighteen. There were roughly twelve tables, one for each cabin I think. Each one was evenly spaced out across the pavilion with benches alongside them, all made of wood. There was a head table near the front where I presume Chiron and the camp director sat.

"You two will be over at the Hermes' table," Athena pointed to the group of kids who looked the most mischievous before walking to her table, which seemed to be filled with blonds.

Once seated at our table, nymphs began serving platters of fresh strawberries, BBQ, bread, apples, grapes, and cheese. I just chose a piece of everything and stared at my empty cup, wondering where I could get a drink.

"Just speak to it, whatever you want- non-alcoholic obviously," Luke whispered to us both, being seated beside us.

"Cherry Coke?" Percy said unsurely before the dark red liquid appeared in his cup.

"_Blue_ Cherry Coke?" Percy's drink turned a darker shade of blue as a smile spread across his face.

"Um... piña colada?" I stated, wondering if it'll work because piña colada _could_be alcoholic. Much to my surprise, it worked.

After I summoned my drink and Percy was about to dive into his smoked brisket, everyone stood up and started heading towards a fire pit in the centre of the Dining Pavilion.

"Come on," Luke motioned us to follow him with our plates.

We joined the line of demigods. Once in line, I noticed a buff girl with light brown hair glare at Percy when he wasn't looking, seeming quite pissed and annoyed by him. _Is she Clarisse? She looks like a kid of Ares with that look._

"Burnt offerings for the gods, they enjoy the smell," Luke elaborated to us quietly as we got closer to the pit.

I heard Percy say something back to him as I tried to figure out who I should offer a portion of my food too. I saw kids murmur their parents' names most likely before dropping the best chunk of their meal into the flames.

"Hermes," Luke said quietly, tossing a cluster of fat grapes into the flames.

Next was Percy, who dropped a decent size of brisket into the fire and walked by to our table.

_To whoever you are, dad. Also, Artemis for saving me._ I silently said, dropping a good amount of my bread into the pit.

I prepared myself for the burnt food scent as I walked back to my table, but I smelled something quite more pleasant, freshly baked brownies, wildflowers, and a bunch of other things that counteract each other but still smelled marvellous.

Back at my table, I immediately dug into my food.

During dinner, Mr. D, who was the camp director and Dionysus, gave a bad introduction to us both, messing up both our names pretty badly. Afterwards, we had a short campfire sing-along before we were sent to our cabins.

"Here are your sleeping bags." Luke handed Percy and I each a sleeping bag.

Percy and I set our sleeping bags up beside each other as I opened my bag, trying to see if any of the Hermes' kids stole anything. Well, too bad for them but I only had some school books and a pencil case, which had a cool constellation design all over it.

"You want to put your horn in my bag?" I asked Percy as he laid in his sleeping bag, staring up at the roof of the overcrowded cabin.

"No, I'll hold onto it," Percy replied.

I nodded before zipping up my backpack and slipping into my sleeping bag too. In seconds, I was fast asleep.

**_(Dream start)_**

_I appeared in a shadowy alleyway with only some light from a metal lamppost at the edge of the alley that flickered every so often. There was some trash lying around me, a couple of newspapers blowing about silently. It appeared to be a quiet and desolate place, not even a rat scampered across the black pavement._

_I took a hesitant step forward, looking around the alley. An uneasy feeling grew in the pit of my stomach as I walked further into the alley, the streetlights getting further away and casting more shadows in my wake. Something about the place seemed eery and unnatural to me, but considering I recently discovered I was a demigod, how much stranger could this get?_

_I continued walking further into the darkness, the shadows feeling oddly welcoming to me. As if they were welcoming me, urging me to come closer and touch them._

_There was a spine chilling laugh that came from the shadows. It came from ahead of me, maybe several more steps. The noise made me freeze on the spot and gave me the desire to run, but I didn't of course._

_A gravelly voice greeted me. "Hello... Arina..." the darkness said. Their voice felt familiar- yet I can't place where I have heard it from._

_"W-who are you?" I mustered enough strength to take a hesitant step back, narrowing missing a can of some sort rolling by._

_"No one important." They chuckled, as if my confusion and fear were somehow amusing to them._

_"If you're not important then why am I here?"_

_"Well... why are you here? I was just... minding my own business... when you stumbled upon my- form." Something about the way it talked obviously alluded to something more sinister, but I was too fearful to press any further._

_"Well- I'm here because-" My mind drew a blank as I struggled to recall what drew me to this place. I looked around, trying to think of a reason, but nothing came up._

_"Well then, goodbye."_

**_(Dream end)_**

I sat up, gasping for air, earning me a few odd looks from the campers around me.

"You okay, Arina?" Percy asked me as he slipped on an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.

I tried to hide the fact my face was turning by red because I saw his bare chest for a split second before replying.

"Yeah, weird dream,"

"What happened?"

I was about to answer when my mind went blank. I struggled to remember what happened in the dream, but nothing came up. I knew whatever happened though shook me up pretty badly though.

"I... don't remember," I admitted, sitting up and grabbing two textbooks from my backpack and placing it beside my sleeping bag.

"What are those for?" Percy questioned instead, gesturing towards the books.

"I'm thinking about giving them to Annie," I elaborated before I stood up and grabbed the books.

"Arina, here are some clothes you can wear for now." An older female Hermes' camper said to me, handing me a set of clothes that seemed a bit big for me. "Your clothes can be washed by the nymphs now if you want."

I nodded before grabbing the clothes and walking out with Percy in tow.

"Percy, come with me to the Armoury, let's see what kind of weapon will suit you for the game tonight," Luke said, appearing behind a banister of the cabin once we were both outside.

"See ya, I have to head to the showers anyway." I didn't want to change in the Hermes' cabin. According to Annabeth, there are two brothers who prank everyone constantly so I don't want to get tricked while changing.

After I changed into the new clothes in the shower place, checking if it had anything suspicious on it before I put it on, I gave my dirty clothes to the nymphs who were washing it by a stream. From there, I headed to the Athena cabin to find Annabeth.

"Hey Arina, how are you liking camp so far?" A random girl asked me, appearing to have come from the other cabin beside Artemis' cabin. "I'm Silena by the way."

"Camp's pretty cool," I replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable by the fact a camper that I've never talked to was talking to me now.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you, but I like checking in on new campers when they come to camp," Silena elaborated, easing some of my nerves.

"Who's your godly parent?" I asked her curiously. Something about the way the guys ogled her as if they liked her gave me a clue who her parent was.

She had dark, long, wavy black hair. She had light blue eyes that seemed to shimmer in the light somehow. As well, she wore a standard orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans.

"Aphrodite," Silena stated as we walked.

"Hm, that's cool," I nodded.

"Heading to the Athena cabin?" Silena questioned as I turned towards cabin six.

Cabin six was just like the other cabins, but they had a grey owl decoration hanging above the door.

"Yeah, got to drop some books off."

"Well, it was nice talking to you," Silena said before waving to me and walking towards the Hephaestus cabin nervously.

"Arina, whatcha doing here?" Annabeth answered the door after I knocked on it, "Y'know you don't have to knock."

"I didn't wanna be rude, and here are my textbooks, thought maybe someone here might enjoy them." I held up the two thick textbooks, quickly earning stares from the campers inside the cabin.

The interior of the cabin was similar to the Hermes' cabin, but there were far fewer campers. There were shelves filled with books and planning tables covered in sheets. To be able to fit all of this, all of the bunkbeds were pushed against one wall.

"Well, I guess." Annabeth shrugged before taking the books and placing them on a table that was also covered in paper.

"Anyway, what could I do today?" I inquired as we both walked towards the Dining Pavilion together.

"Hm... well, you got your weapon for Capture the Flag tonight, which Chiron will go over the rules before the games start, I guess I can introduce you to some people." Annabeth shrugged as we grabbed two pieces of toast each before sacrificing one for our parents.

"Okay, it seems good to me," I agreed, taking a bite of the bread.

First stop was the Demeter cabin where Annabeth introduced me to two girls, Katie Gardner and Miranda Gardiner. According to Annabeth, they both took turns being the head counsellor, but both were the same age as us. Afterwards, she was going to bring me to the Ares' cabin, but the land mines were moved so it wasn't safe to go near it.

Yes. Land mines. Safe, right?

"Why are there only twelve cabins? Why aren't there cabins for Hestia and Hades?"

Annabeth winced as we heard thunder in the distance from my question.

"There are only cabins for the Olympians, and those two aren't. Also, the Lord of the Underworld shouldn't be having children," Annabeth explained, confusing me.

"What do you mean by, _'shouldn't'_ be having kids? Also, what about minor gods? What if they had children?"

"The Big Three, aka the Lord of the Underworld, Ruler of the Sea, and King of the Gods, made a pact a long time ago to stop having children because they were the most dangerous and caused many wars, like World War Two.

"And to answer your second question: I'm not sure why we don't have cabins for minor gods," Annabeth admitted nervously.

I wanted to question her further but decided to focus on learning the names and faces of the other demigods in this camp.

Later in the day, after encountering more of Annabeth's friends, including one anxious satyr named Grover, Annabeth taught me how to rock climb. Following that, we hung around with some other campers before dinner. After dinner, it was the long-awaited Capture the Flag game.

According to some of the campers, when we have a regular Capture the Flag game, the camp's split into two teams, usually led by the Ares' cabin or Athena's cabin. The goal of the game is to steal the other team's banner, which was painted to symbolize the leaders' cabin. In this case, we had Athena's banner, which was grey and had an owl upon it, for our group and a silver banner with a moon and a bow for the hunters.

Soon, Chiron began going over the rules of the game, like no maiming or killing anyone and the boundaries. Afterwards, he presented the weapons and shields we could pick from before we suited up in our armour and helmets that had either a blue or red plume on it to represent both teams.

Luke said Percy and I would both be doing border control near the creek, which didn't seem that hard. However, once in my armour and holding the gigantic shield, I realized I could barely see over my shield.

"Any last-minute advice?" Percy asked Annabeth as we marched to our positions.

"Clarisse is known for her rash decision, she might still be mad at you. Just watch out for her spear and you should be fine." Annabeth advised before she went deeper into the forest as we stopped near the edge of Zephyros Creek, getting extremely close to Long Island Sound.

"You don't think Clarisse will attack me, do you?" Percy questioned me worriedly.

"Um... what exactly happened between you two?"

"She thinks I did something to her and got her and her goonies covered in toilet water," Percy explained.

"Oh, she'll definitely attack you," I answered his previous question before we heard a conch horn sound in the distance.

A few moments later, five Ares' kids showed up with Clarisse commanding them, and from the expression on her face, we were going to have a Hades of a night.

"Look, seems like Prissy's got a girlfriend," Clarisse teased, fiddling with her spear that seemed to glow at the tip.

Clarisse was a buff girl with short hair, from what I could tell. It was hard to gauge her other qualities due to the fact she was wearing a full set of bronze armour.

"I have a name, y'know," I spat back.

"Do you know who I am?" she retorted angrily.

"A girl in need of serious anger management?" I guessed with a smirk.

Clarisse's grip tightened on her spear before she and her siblings charged at us. I summoned my twin blades and threw my shield onto the ground, forming an X with my blades to block several slashes from a sword.

Percy, on the other hand, seemed to be fairing worse than me. I realized Clarisse's spear was electric after Percy collapsed when blocking the weapon with his shield.

"You're on our team," Percy said weakly before Clarisse stabbed him in the ribs. Thankfully his armour protected a majority of his body or else he would be shish-ke-babbed.

"Hey! No maiming!" I called out before being slashed in the arm by another camper who snuck up behind me.

"Oops, guess I'll lose my dessert privilege," a male camper stated with a nonchalant shrug.

"You made our cabin look like a fool," Clarisse snapped at Percy, "And you," she glared at me, "insulted me."

One of the campers managed to grab both of my blades, leaving me defenceless. Another one wrapped their arms around me tightly, refusing to let me go and pinning my arms to my side as I struggled.

"Hey! Let go of her!" Percy yelled out weakly before Clarisse kicked him into the stream.

"C'mon, I have an idea," Clarisse motioned for the camper holding me to bring me over to dock at the edge of the forest on Long Island Sound.

"Let me go!" I tried to move as the Ares' camper maintained a stronghold on me. I whipped my auburn hair into their face, hoping it'll distract them but it caused them to tighten their grip.

"Throw her in," Clarisse said, standing beside the edge of the dock.

Before I realized what she said, the demigod threw me into the water. I felt my head hit something hard as I started to drown. My limbs were refusing to cooperate as I tried moving them around. I heard distant yelling before there was a giant splash above me, but I was practically half-conscious by then.

"Arina!" I blinked repeatedly, realizing I was above the water in someone's arms.

I was laid down somewhere- was it the beach?

"Arina, are you okay?" Percy asked me, his arms still around me.

"Um... y-yeah... I'm fine..." I replied, rubbing my aching head and trying to ignore the fact my vision was blurring in and out of focus.

"Percy! Arina!" I heard someone yell before a conch sounded.

I turned around and saw all the demigods converging to where we were, a majority of them glaring at Clarisse and her lackeys.

"Arina, are you okay?" Chiron asked me as he looked at me worriedly.

"I'm f-fine," I lied.

"What happened?" Charles Beckendorf, a Hephaestus camper I befriended, questioned.

"Just fell in the lake and nearly-" I began to say before a loud growling sound came from the forest.

"_Stand ready! My bow!_" Chiron commanded, his words sounding as if they were in a different language.

A giant dog- no, hellhound? Whatever it was, it came running towards Percy and I, but Percy jumped in front of me and got tackled by the creature. The creature clawed at Percy's chest, leaving fresh slashes all over his chest before it was shot off by an arrow.

Everyone started to argue, causing me to get a headache from their loud voices. Ugh... can they shut up?

"Percy! Get in the water!" Annabeth ordered Percy, puzzling me. Percy obliged and crawled into the water. Suddenly, all his wounds healed.

"Look, I..." Percy started to say something when we all stared at the symbol glowing above his head. It was a three-pronged trident.

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

"My father?"

"Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." Chiron said before I collapsed to the ground, my vision going completely black.

**(AN: I'm back from my hiatus (this is for my readers on chapter 30) I'm just here editing this chapter. I decided to change the dream scene completely btw.**

**UPDATE: I accidentally posted it while I was still writing the dream scene like an idiot -_-)**


	4. I get a quest

My head was throbbing when I woke up. Brief flashes of what happened last night came into my head, something about a dog and a trident.

"Ugh..." I groaned, opening my eyes slowly.

"Hey, welcome back," a boy with blond hair said before handing me a glass of something that looked like apple juice.

"W-what happened?"

"You hit your head after getting thrown into Long Island Sound," the boy said, "Drink this."

I took a sip of the liquid, almost gagging because of the taste. It didn't taste bad, but I was expecting something like apple juice. Instead, it tasted like spanakopita, my favourite food.

"Nectar," I recognized the taste after the hunters explained the magical drink to heal demigods.

"Yep," the guy nodded, "I'm Lee by the way, head of the Apollo cabin." He introduced before grabbing a clipboard and writing something.

"Okay... how long have I've been here?" I inquired, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

"Just one night," Lee replied before there was a loud knocking at the door.

I looked around and finally realized I was in a bed in a wooden room. _The Big House,_ I remembered.

"Guess your visitors are anxious to see you." Lee stated with the shake of his head, "Just don't overexert yourself." He stood up and opened the door.

"Move aside, _boy_," I heard an all familiar voice hiss before three girls in silver parkas entered the room.

"I'll be in the next room over," Lee said before he walked out.

"Are thou okay?" Zoë inquired, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, my head doesn't hurt that much anymore."

"I don't see how an incompetent boy could be any more help than us, I am a daughter of Apollo," Phoebe grumbled angrily.

"It's fine, Phoebe," I stated.

"Anyway, what happened last night? I don't remember what happened that much." I had very vague memories of what occurred last night, so I was genuinely curious about what happened.

"Well, that boy, Percy, was claimed by his father Poseidon, then you passed out. Chiron ordered some campers to carry you here, the Big House, to be tended too," Hunter elaborated.

"And that girl who threw thee got punished as well," Zoë added as well.

I nodded as I slowly started to recall what happened last night. I had a hazy recollection of a trident above Percy's head and there was definitely something that attacked him. However, there was something else. I swear I remembered Percy standing in front of me to protect me, but that's probably my imagination. It didn't seem right, why would he jump in front of me?

"Arina?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by three worried-looking hunters.

"I'm fine, just thinking," I brushed off their concern, not wanting to give them another reason to be troubled.

The trio of hunters looked at each other apprehensively, presumably not believing me but thankfully, they didn't push further.

"Did you guys maintain your winning streak?" I asked them.

"Yep, the campers were easily picked off," Hunter answered simply.

"To think that was a plan devised by the spawns of the wisdom goddess," Zoë exclaimed with the disapproving shake of her head.

"Hey, don't be too hard on them. It's not their fault the Hunters of Artemis are excellent fighters." I defended my friends but also complimenting the hunters.

Zoë laughed lightheartedly before replying, "Thou are a flatterer for sure."

"Anyway, we must continue on our hunt. Our mistress returned this morning to tell us what happened with her father. We must go now, but if you ever want to contact us or want to join the hunt, just Iris-Message us." Phoebe stated before she motioned to the other girls to go.

"Bye," I said with a small wave.

"Nice swordsmanship, make sure to watch your blindsides," Hunter advised, waving too.

Once they left, two worried demigods came running in.

"Are you okay?" Percy and Annabeth inquired in unison, glaring at each other quickly before returning their attention to me.

"I'm fine, the nectar helped a lot," I answered them reassuringly.

"You should've seen the look on Chiron face after hearing Clarisse had thrown you into Long Island Sound, it was great! I didn't know he could get that angry!" Percy exclaimed.

"Thanks for saving me," I said to him, recalling he was the one who carried me out of the water.

"Uh... it w-was no problem, really," he replied with a sheepish blush.

"Anyway, Percy was moved to cabin three last night," Annabeth announced.

At that moment, I noticed how distracted Annabeth looked. Usually, when I saw that look, it meant she was cooking up some plan of hers. I wonder if finding out Percy was the son of the Sea God changed anything.

"Oh..."

"I broke Clarisse's spear last night during the fight," Percy stated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ooh, nice one, she'll hundred percent try to murder you now," I said, making Percy pale slightly.

"Um, I have to go now," Annabeth mumbled before exiting the room quickly.

"What's with her?" I questioned, staring after her.

"Um... every since my dad claimed me, everyone's been a bit... different," Percy admitted nervously, glancing at the door.

"Well, of course, you're the son of one of the Big Three," I pointed-out.

"Yeah, but everyone's been avoiding me. None of Hermes' kids wanted to do sword training classes with me after breakfast so I was stuck with Luke." Percy explained, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Who cares what they think? You're a son of Poseidon, it shouldn't matter if the whole camp hated you or not. It's not like your gonna betray them," I replied with a shrug as thunder was heard from a distant.

"Whatcha mean?"

"Well, the hunters told me every demigod had a thing called a 'fatal flaw' which they inherited from their godly parent, like a child of Zeus is known for their hubris, yours would most likely be loyalty," I elaborated, ignoring the thunder again.

"Be careful with names!" I heard someone yell from outside my room.

"Oh, cool, so that means I'll never betray the Gods?" Percy inquired, disregarding the warning.

"I dunno, I'm just about clueless as you are," I stated with a shrug.

"You're clueless? You travelled here with the hunters! You probably know more about the Greek world than me! I only know as much as Annabeth and Chiron would tell me!" Percy argued.

"Eh, agree to disagree," I replied calmly.

"Anyway, when are you getting out of here?" Percy questioned, "You seem to be the only one not avoiding me besides Grover."

"Dunno, ask Lee, he's the Apollo camper."

Percy and I continued talking until the conch sounded for dinner, then he left, promising he'll return as soon as he finished.

"Hey, Lee, how long do I have to stay here?" I asked the older camper when he was walking by my room.

"Hm... you seem fine now, you feel okay?"

"Yeah, I feel great," and this time, I was completely honest.

"Well, I guess there's nothing else I need to check anymore. You can head to dinner now if you want." Lee suggested before leaving as well.

I got out of bed quickly, looking around if I forgot anything.

As I walked out of the room, something dawned on me. I've never been to the Big House before, so I have no clue how to get out.

I walked down several halls, opening door after door. Along the way, I encountered a couple of injured campers. I also unnecessarily ran into a couple who were making-out, which made me promptly run out.

"Looking for something?" I jumped at the voice, turning to see an adult man I've never seen before. He was much taller than me, probably at least two feet taller. He had dark almost black hair and had this mischievous glint in his eyes that looked somewhat familiar.

"Um... I'm kinda lost," something about this man made me suspicious the moment I laid my eyes on him.

"The exit's that way," he pointed to a set of double doors which I didn't seem to notice until now.

"Thanks," I turned away from the doors to face him, but he was gone.

The whole interaction sent a shiver down my spine before I ran outside. Yet something about that man seemed oddly familiar as if I remembered meeting him before. I ignored this feeling once I entered the Dining Pavilion, grabbing a plate of random food before sacrificing a chunk of it into the fire.

"Good to see you're fine now, Arina," Chiron said when he saw me making my way back to table eleven.

"Yep, just got lost in the Big House," I replied to him before sitting with the Hermes' campers.

"Oh, hey Arina," Luke seemed oddly surprised at seeing me at the table.

"Hey, Luke, when do I start sword training?" I inquired curiously.

"Um... you can start with Percy tomorrow, I feel like you're advanced enough to practice with him." Why does Luke seem so agitated and jumpy? Also, why did he look so surprised to see me?

I decided to neglect this odd feeling and continued eating my dinner.

* * *

It's been a couple of days since Capture the Flag, and camp had been... eventful. Well, it's great for me, but for Percy, it could be better. He wasn't kidding when he said EVERYONE was shunning him. I barely see him anymore because all of my other friends constantly want to hang out with me, so I can't spend any time with the lonely dude. Even Annabeth seemed distracted whenever she was with him.

I sort of understand why though, he was the son of the Sea God, meaning monsters were more attracted to him than ever, which puts everyone he hangs out with, in danger. Occasionally, I see someone hang out with him, like Katie or Beckendorf, but usually their cabinmates drag them away while whispering.

One day, I saw Clarisse sneak up to his cabin and drop something off in his cabin. That day, I decided to confront that cow.

"What did you put in Percy's cabin?"

"What? Worried about your boyfriend?" Clarisse mocked, tilting her head to the side with a grin.

"Hmm, y'know, when a girl constantly rips on a guy, that usually means she likes him." I pointed-out with a smirk.

"Oh Gods, ew, like I'll ever like Prissy," Clarisse gagged at the accusation.

"What did you put in his cabin?" I repeated.

"Nothing, you're just a paranoid freak," she spat before turning away and heading to her cabin.

Then, just out of the blue, a hellhound, which I found out was the name for the thing that attacked Percy, appeared.

"AHH!" I heard demigods yell as I backed away from the monster before summoning my twin blades.

Fortunately for me, a couple of older campers showed up and quickly sent the hellhound to the Field of Punishments where it belonged.

"Are you okay?" Lee questioned Clarisse and I after the hellhound was gone.

"Yeah, how did it get here?" I asked him.

"Obviously Percy summoned it," Clarisse spat, earning her a glare from the older demigod.

"We can't just assume Percy did it," Lee stated in response before another camper called him over.

"I'm watching you, Morales," Clarisse glared at me before running off to her cabin.

I watched her run away until I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I immediately spun around and held my blades up to their throat, ready to attack.

"Whoa, chill," Percy said, backing away carefully.

"Sorry," I apologized before transforming my blades back to their ring form.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Percy inquired in awe.

"The rings? Not sure, just the day I got them they transformed into rings. Whenever I need them, they'll appear as my blades. Chiron thinks the weapon 'bonded' with me, or whatever that means." I replied with a shrug before I followed him back to his cabin.

"What happened? I heard yelling and Clarisse say my name." Percy asked before he was about to open his door.

"Wait! Clarisse might've planted something inside, I saw her put something inside earlier." I warned him, pushing him aside and carefully opening the door, watching for any kind of trap. Instead, I found a newspaper lying on the ground.

"Huh?" Percy bent down and picked it up, his eyes hardening the moment he read the heading.

"I'll see you later," Percy stepped in and slammed the door shut in my face, giving a clear indication he needed some alone time.

I guess I'm on my own again.

* * *

I was out in the woods with the Stoll brothers, helping them with a new prank they wanted to pull on the Aphrodite cabin. I did have some friends in that cabin, but there was one girl that just rubs me the wrong way. Her name was Drew Tanaka.

"Got the itching powder?" Travis, I think, questioned me.

"Yep," I held up the small jar of itching powder.

"Let's get this party started then," Connor, hopefully, said, rubbing his hands together with a mischievous gleam that Hermes' kids were famous for.

We snuck over to the river where some nymphs were washing clothes. It was pretty easy to find the Aphrodite's cabin's pile of clothes, which was mostly bright pink and consisted of pretty skimpy clothes. I'm not being stereotypical though, some clothes were black and of course, there was a cluster of orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts.

"You wanna do the honours?" The boys asked me in unison.

"Um..."

"Don't chicken out on us now, Morales," one of the boys stated after I gave up trying to figure who was who.

They weren't twins, but they still looked identical to me.

"Fine," I grumbled, "you guys better create a convincing distraction."

"Have some fate in us," one of them grabbed a rock on the ground and chucked it up the stream, catching the nymphs' attention.

"GO!" They both whispered as the nymphs went to investigate the noise.

I jumped up from behind the bushes and ran towards the pile of clothes. I uncapped the jar and dumped the powder on top of the pile of clothes, trying to get as much powder everywhere as possible while struggling not to get any on myself. Once the jar was emptied, I ran back towards the bushes where the brothers were.

"C'mon, let's head back to the camp before Luke realizes we're up to something," one of the brothers said.

I nodded my head in agreement before running back towards the camp, feeling elated that I did something like that.

I usually don't play it safe, I don't like goodie-two-shoes, so naturally pranking would be fun. Of course, the powder wasn't deadly or anything, the Stolls did this a lot according to numerous other campers. A pretty small rash, then they'll be all good after the Apollo cabin fixes them up. Maybe we'll lose our dessert privileges, but it's unlikely anyone will suspect me because I'm just the new kid. Everybody will for sure think it was Connor and Travis first, maybe thinking it's a prank from a young Hermes' or Ares' kid, but I was safe for now.

Once back at the camp, I gave them the empty jar, which they claimed they knew how to dispose of without anyone finding it later on. I doubt that, but I'm skeptical anybody will look for my fingerprints on the container.

"Hey, Arina! I've looking for you everywhere, where were you?" Annabeth inquired, running up to me as I walked towards the rocking climbing wall.

"Um, bathroom," I lied.

Annabeth gave me an unconvinced look, "Percy got chosen for a quest and wants us and Grover to join him."

"What's the quest for?" I asked as we walked towards the Big House instead.

"Well, a little after the winter solstice, the King of the Gods realized someone stole his symbol of power, his master bolt. At that time, he was arguing with the Ruler of the Sea, so of course, he was pointing blame to him," Annabeth elaborated.

"I thought gods can't steal each other's symbols?" I recalled Artemis telling me this a week ago.

"Well, directly, yes, but if they get a mortal to steal it, it'll work. And because Percy was just claimed, he shifted his blame to Percy because he was also in New York when the solstice was happening." Annabeth explained to me further.

"So Percy's quest is to retrieve the master bolt before..."

"Before the summer solstice, or else they'll be a war between the gods like the Trojan War, gods taking sides and chaos reigning," Chiron confirmed, standing beside Percy on the porch of the Big House.

"So when do we go?" I inquired.

"This afternoon," Chiron said.

From there, Percy debriefed me on our quest. Apparently, Hades had stolen Zeus' master bolt and we were to retrieve it in LA. The prophecy Percy told us didn't make sense though, I felt like he was hiding something from us, but he was the quest leader, he got to make the big decisions.

**(A/N: Hey, sorry about the inconsistent spacing, somethings wrong with my copy-and-paste)**


	5. We're nearly killed three times in a row

**(A/N: I'll be skipping a lot in this chapter because it'll stick mostly to the original plot but Arina's clearly going to be with them. Enjoy!)**

I had an eventful afternoon. After Argus, who was the 'bodyguard' of the camp, dropped us off at the bus stop, we got attacked by the Furies. Also, the mortals thought Percy was attacking innocent old ladies, then we ended up destroying the bus. Afterwards, we went to a gnome emporium where Medusa nearly killed us all.

Great, right?

"Thanks for the save back there," Percy thanked us.

"Well, you were the one who sliced Medusa's head off," I pointed-out nonchalantly.

"I'll be surprised if we make it any further. Why did you have to send her head to the Gods? They'll take that as an insult!" Annabeth exclaimed, still fuming about Percy's 'gift' to the Gods.

"Eh, maybe Athena'll find it funny, she was the one who cursed her and her sisters in the first place," I shrugged.

"I swear, if Percy keeps on doing stupid stuff like this, he'll get us all killed eventually," Annabeth grumbled, mumbling about how his head was full of kelp.

"Anyway, where to next?" I inquired, trying to ease the awkward tension.

"Well, our bus was destroyed by the Kindly Ones and Percy-"

"Hey! They were attacking me!"

"Anyway, so we have no form of travel," Annabeth explained, ignoring Percy's outburst.

"Hm... I say we should camp for the night. All of our stuff was on that bus, so maybe Grover'll find something in the forest that's safe to consume." I suggested, looking around the dark forest.

"What if-"

"We'll be fine, last time I check, hellhounds can't climb," I found a pretty thick tree and started climbing it quickly. Once I found a sturdy looking branch, I sat on it and looked at them down below.

"Uh... I can't climb," Grover said worriedly.

"Fine, we'll sleep on the ground, we grabbed some decent supplies from Aunty Em's store anyway," I climbed down from the tree, earning me an odd look from Annabeth and Grover.

"What?"

"Nothing, let's take turn sleeping," Annabeth said with the shake of her head.

Percy took the first watch as the rest fell asleep, but I had some trouble falling asleep so I ended up staying up with him.

"You scared about the quest?" Percy asked me quietly as Grover snored.

"Sort of, I'm worried that we won't complete the quest in time," I admitted nervously.

"Really?" Percy raised his eyebrows at me, "You sure you're not Annabeth's sister? That seems like an Athena thing to say."

"Shut up, Barnacle Boy," I lightly punched in his shoulder.

"Hey," he grinned, seeming to enjoy annoying me.

Ugh... boys, am I right?

"Are _you_ scared?"

"Me? Terrified. I have multiple gods angry at me, Zeus, Hades, and probably Dionysius. Also, I have to prevent a war and fail to save what matters most to me?" Percy's eyes widened after realizing the last thing he said.

"Wait, what do you by 'fail to save what matters most to you'?" I inquired, pushing myself into a more comfortable position.

"Uh... night," Percy threw the blanket over him and faked snored until I looked away from him, shaking my head.

"His head is _made_ of barnacles," I murmured.

**(Time skip, they meet the pink poodle, Percy says hi to it, then they encounter the Echidna and the Chimera before ending up in Denver)**

Our train rolled into Denver and we all got off swiftly, Percy covering his face the entire time to avoid being spotted and reported for being a fugitive. The Mist is wonderful yet horrible at the same time.

Annabeth suggested we should Iris-message Chiron to check-in on what's been happening. However, Luke answered instead. He briefly explained there had been fights at the camp between cabins because of the possible battle between Zeus and Poseidon.

"I'm for sure it was Hades, his Helm of Darkness can make him invisible," Luke stated, quickly realizing what he said.

"I'm not saying Annabeth could've done it, heck, she's like a little sister to me," Luke added as I heard the loud music outside shut down, followed by screams.

"You should check that out," Luke advised as our water gun started to disperse less water.

"Yeah," I agreed before handing Percy the water gun and seeing what all the commotion was about.

However, I was too late because Annabeth and Grover were walking back laughing.

"What happened?"

"Huh? N-nothing," Grover said, stifling his laugh.

"Let's go," Percy said once the mist evaporated.

From there, we went to this diner for some dinner.

"You kids have money?" The waitress asked us skeptically as we sat in a booth in front of her.

I saw the gears turning in Annabeth's head, most likely trying to think of a better sob story than the one Percy told earlier. Seriously, orphan circus kids?

"You kids have money to pay for that?" The waitress repeated as if her memory was put on rewind.

I turned around the see a guy in full biker gear walk into the diner. Something about him made my anger levels rise, not for any reason, just looking at him.

"It's on me," he said, sliding into our booth with a grin.

We all stared at him, us demigods not knowing who he was. However, Annabeth was likely trying to figure out who he was.

"You still here?" He asked the waitress, pointing at her and causing her to spin on her heels, walking towards the kitchen.

The guy made eye contact with Percy and I. A fire started burning in Percy's eye as the biker stared him down through his shades.

"You're old Seaweed's kid?" He inquired, unimpressed.

"What's it to you?" Percy spat.

"Percy, this is-" Annabeth began as I realized who this 'guy' was.

"Nah, I'm fine with some attitude, long as he knows who's boss. Can you guess who I am, little cousin?"

Percy's eye widened in realization, seeing the obvious similarities in the vicious sneer a handful of kids at Camp Half-Blood inherited.

"Clarisse's dad, Ares, god of war," Percy stated.

"Heard you broke my daughter's spear,"

"She nearly killed my friend," Percy bit back.

"Don't really care, I don't fight my kids' battles," Ares shrugged, not seeming to give a care in the world as I repressed the anger building up in me.

Soon the waitress can back with piles of food, which Ares promptly paid for in gold. The waitress didn't except it at first, but after getting threatened with a knife, she obliged.

"You can't do that," I said, looking back at the poor waitress.

"Are you kidding? There hasn't been a place this great since Sparta. You kids should carry weapons, dangerous world with dangerous people. And that brings me to my favour." Ares stated, biting a fry.

"What could we do that a god can't?" I replied.

"Something I'm too busy to do on my own."

"You don't seem busy right now," I pointed-out, raising my eyebrow skeptically.

"Want to be a prairie dog and get run over by my Harley? I'm a god allowing you to prove yourself, you should take it, Morales." Ares said, glaring at me for the backtalk.

"W-what do you need?" Grover inquired, intimated by Ares.

"I left my shield at an abandoned waterpark near here while on a date with my... girlfriend. Got interrupted and left it behind, I just need you four to go back and get it." Ares explained simply.

The favour seemed too easy.

"We're already busy," Percy replied, "on a quest."

Ares's eyes seemed to fire up after hearing Percy's and my opinion on his favour.

"I know about your puny quest. My old man sent me, Artemis, Apollo, and Athena to find his bolt, and we didn't find zilch. You think you can do better than the gods themselves? Fat chance, punk," Ares spat.

Percy and Ares continued to bargain, but I was distracted by three old ladies across the street who seemed to be knitting something. However, something told me the string they were using wasn't normal. One of the three ladies cut a blue string, catching my gaze before all three of them disappear.

"The Fates," Grover whispered to me, his eyes widened.

The Fates just cut someone's life string, someone's going to die. The blue made me immediately think of one guy. Percy.

* * *

We snuck into the waterpark, Grover making an ungraceful landing with Luke's malfunctioning flying shoes.

"Clothes," we turned to what Annabeth was talking about and saw racks of clothes with 'Waterland' written on them.

"You're not-"

"Try to stop me," Annabeth grabbed a handful before going to the back of the shop, coming out fully-decked in commemorative clothes. The rest of us followed suit.

"Who's Ares' girlfriend?" I asked the other three.

"Probably someone ugly if they wanted to go to a dump like this."

"You should be careful about what you say about her, she'll kill you if you called her ugly," Annabeth warned Percy.

"Who?"

"Aphrodite," Grover responded nervously, looking around for monsters.

"Isn't she married to Hephaestus?" I inquired.

"So?" Percy and I dropped the subject.

Eventually, we found the ride Ares was on with Aphrodite. The 'Thrill Ride of Love' according to the sign.

"There's a Greek letter carved here, Eta," Annabeth said while running her fingers across a statue of Cupid.

"I can help," Grover offered, wanting to make up for what happened at the arch.

At the arch, Grover failed to tell us about Echidna and her pet, the Chimera. He claimed it was because he was underground, which I didn't get.

"It's fine, Grover, you're my Red Baron, a flying ace, remember?" What does that have to do with this?

"Annabeth, come with-"

"Go with you?" She looked horrified.

"What now?" Percy seemed irritated now.

"Go with you into the Tunnel of Love? How embarrassing is that? What if someone sees me?" Annabeth inquired, still seeming being mortified and being quite irrational.

"Fine, I'll go," I insisted, pushing passed her and following Percy inside.

We walked along the side of the pool and found the boat with Ares' shield propped up inside. Percy hopped into the boat, getting distracted by a pink scarf. He picked it up, making me notice how his eyes glazed over as he held it.

"Oh no, stay away from her scarf." I grabbed the scarf out of his hands right before he rubbed it on his face, throwing it away. "Just get the shield."

Percy nodded before picking up the shield. The moment he touched the shield, I knew something bad was going to happen.

This was a trap. Eta stood for H, which meant this was a trap created by Hephaestus.

Oh, Hades...

* * *

After escaping the ride and the waterpark, we gave the shield back to a smug-looking Ares, who turned out to know about the trap and didn't think to tell us. I guess jerkiness runs in the family.

From there, he gave us a ride to the west, which was a zoo transport truck. Talk about luxury. I'm being sarcastic if you can't tell.

We fed the animals in the truck, Grover promising them all freedom. Afterwards, I pretended to fall asleep so I could listen to Percy and Annabeth's conversation. She told him about her dad, which I already knew about, and the meaning of each bead on her necklace.

Afterwards, they fell asleep and I sat up, petting one of the lions absentmindedly.

I don't think I slept that night, but oddly enough, I didn't feel tired at all. The others eventually woke when the truck stopped.

That's when we put our plan into action. We quickly freed all the animals before jumping after them when the animal smugglers opened the back.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover.

"Yeah, I put a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Huh?" he put what on them?

"It's a blessing for animals only." Grover elaborated as we stumbled into the desert.

"So it'll work for Percy!" Annabeth stated with a cheeky grin.

"Hey!"

"Stop fighting, let's go," I led them towards the hotels, passing the MGM and Monte Carlo.

I wasn't sure where exactly I was leading these guys, but I just wanted us out of the heat. I must've taken a wrong turn because we ended up at this place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"Hey kids, you look tired. You want to come in and sit down?" A doorman questioned us.

Something started flashing in my head, warning me not to go in but I immediately dismissed the thought and walked inside with the others, instantly getting taken back by the interior of the place.

The doorman than introduced us to the place, giving us credit cards that already had been paid for and our room keys. Percy and I were confused, but the man reassured us that everything had already been paid for, so we went along with it. Maybe Chiron arranged for us to stay here?

Anyway, we took the elevator up to our room, amazed by the view outside. We were, even more, astounded by our actual room, which looked magnificent.

"National Geographic?" Percy gave Annabeth an odd look when she turned on the TV.

"What? It's interesting," Percy shook his head before being the first to shower.

Afterwards, we each took turns taking a shower before we headed downstairs to play some games. However, the whole time, I felt alarm bells go off in my head telling me to leave as soon as possible, but the noise dimmed once I put on headphones and played a video game.

**(Time skip, Percy realizes the place is a trap and the others leave with him, finding out it's been five days and they only have one day left)**

I'm never going into a casino ever again, no matter what.

"Where's the entrance to the Underworld?" I asked Annabeth.

"LA," Annabeth replied before hailing a taxi.

Once inside, Annabeth told the driver where we wanted to go. At first, he was skeptical, but after scanning our credit cards from the hotel, he obliged.

During the car ride, the others discussed a weird dream Percy had and Hades stealing the bolt, but I was distracted by my dreams. I had one, not sure how many days ago, about this black-haired woman yelling at a man about cheating on her with 'some mortal'. My first thought was Hera and Zeus, but I don't think Hera has black hair, or maybe she changed it. I have heard stories of gods possessing the ability to change their physical appearance.

"Hey, Arina, we're here," I was brought out of my thoughts by Annabeth prodding my arm.

I quickly slipped out of the taxi, thanking the driver before turning to my friends.

"What's next?" I inquired.

Just then, Percy turned and walked straight into the ocean. I get he's dumb, but he can't be serious about walking into polluted waters, right?

"What the heck is he doing?" I glanced at him as he dove into the water.

"His head is filled with seaweed," Annabeth stated with the shake of her head.

"More like it's made of barnacles," I shook my head as we waited for Percy to surface.

Once he resurfaced, he told us about these four pearls he received to help us. After, we started to make our way to the entrance of the Underworld. I don't get why Annabeth couldn't have told the taxi driver to take us straight there, wouldn't that be easier?

Anyway, along the way, we took a bus, but the guy didn't know where it was, unfortunately. Later, we found out we ended up on national television, just for all the wrong reasons. Percy's step-father accused him of killing his mom and we're probably being hunted by the FBI or something now. Then we got ganged up on by some street kids, but after Percy realized his Celestial Bronze sword didn't work, we bolted. Next, just cause we were soooooo lucky, we got trapped by Procrustes and were nearly stretched to death, especially me.

The only good thing to getting trapped by Procrustes was we found the address of DOA Recording Studios, which was the REAL entrance to the underworld.

We walked into the recording studios, looking around at the spirits of the dead

"Your name is Chiron?" Percy questioned in disbelief once inside the recording studios.

The man, who dressed like a security guard, looked up and stared at Percy, leaning towards him.

"Do I look like a centaur, young lad?" The man asked, his voice having a faint accent.

"N-no,"

"You're Charon," I realized after reading his nametag.

"Ah, finally someone smart enough to guess who I am, but to you-" the man finally looked at me, seeming utterly shocked.

"Um, it's Mr. Charon to you four," he said, regaining his composure a bit. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. Anyway, how may I help you, little dead ones?"

Annabeth started to explain that we needed to get to the Underworld, elaborating on how we died, which in my opinion, seemed to be the worst excuse in the world. How did we all die in a bathtub? Couldn't she have said we died during a camping trip, got lost in the woods or something?

Afterwards, Charon realized we were demigods, refusing to let us in.

"Do you think I can be bought? Eh, how much do you have, per se?" Charon asked curiously.

"A lot," I replied, "I bet Hades doesn't pay you enough for all the hard work you do."

"Oh, you don't know it, having to babysit these spirits while they complain, they're insufferable," Charon admitted, shaking his head. "Suits like these aren't cheap,"

"You deserve better," I nodded along, "Higher pay, better hours, the works for a fine god like yourself." With every word, I placed another gold drachma onto his desk.

"Kid, you're making some sense now, just a little," Charon looked down at his Italien suit.

"I'll mention a pay raise to Hades when we talk to him," I said, placing more drachmas onto his desk.

I saw him murmur something, but I couldn't tell what he said.

"The boat's almost full, I can fit the four of you on and head down." Charon agreed, finally giving in.

He scooped up the money before motioning us to follow him. From there, he led us to an elevator, most likely leading down to the Underworld. Once on, I noticed Percy and Grover getting sick but Annabeth and I seemed fine. From there, we ended up in a wooden barge on the infamous River Styx, Charon complaining about our waste management problems.

I saw Percy tense up, but before I could do anything, Annabeth grabbed his hand. At first, that made me jealous, yet I neglected that feeling and focused on the fact my best friend had a possible crush on someone her age.

Then, we arrived in Erebus. Charon wished us good luck, well, in his way, before we continued along. Annabeth explained how the Underworld worked to Percy as I looked around. Eventually, we ran into Cerberus.

"Can you understand him?" Percy asked Grover.

Something about Cerberus seemed awfully familiar to me now as if I met him before. That's unlikely though, I think I'll remember if I died and met the famous dog of the dead.

Percy went up to Cerberus then, trying to distract him with a wooden bedpost we stole from the waterbed store. That was a bad choice. Cerberus just stared at Percy, unimpressed.

"Um, Percy?" Grover said, turning to the boy in question nervously.

"What?"

"Just thought you should know Cerberus will give us ten seconds to pray to any god we want. Afterwards... well, he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth opened her backpack, rifling through it.

"Five seconds," I stepped back, ready to run for it.

Annabeth suddenly held up a bright red ball, waving it around until it caught Cerberus' attention.

"Want it, Cerberus? Sit," oh gods, has Annabeth lost her mind? Any second now she could become the world's largest doggie treat.

To my amazement, Cerberus listened to Annabeth, crushing some spirits as he sat down. Annabeth started playing around with him before telling us to go to the 'EZ DEATH' line.

From there, we snuck passed Cerberus, who was whimpering constantly for Annabeth. We managed to get passed all the security checkpoints, which flashed a lot.

It was time to meet the Lord of the Dead.


	6. Turns out, we were wrong

**(A/N: I've copied some lines from the actual book in here so I didn't have to do that many time skips like in the last chapter. Enjoy!)**

We walked through the Fields of Asphodel where it was deadly silently except for the quiet murmuring and whispers of the dead. We also passed a place filled with laughter and sunshine, the exact opposite of the dreary fields we were in. It was Elysium.

We saw a giant tent where I presume people were judged, with two lines leading out of it, one to a barren and painful wasteland, the other leading to the gorgeous valley of Elysium. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on it, the other line led to the Fields of Punishment where cruel and unforgivable people went.

Near Elysium was another valley that had three small islands on a glistening blue lake. The Isle of Blest, I realized. It was where people who had achieved Elysium three times went, which seemed like a magnificent fate.

"Whoa! Grover, where are you going?" I heard Percy exclaimed, distracting me from the pools of clear water.

Grover's shoes seemed to be malfunctioning again because they started dragging him down a mildly steep slope. At first, I thought it would make him barge right to Hades' palace, but it took a sharp turn and went down an even steeper slope.

"Untie them!" I yelled, chasing after him with Annabeth and Percy tailing me.

Grover tried untying them, but it was difficult when they were dragging him downhill. Once at the bottom, it tried pulling him into this giant dark abyss, causing Percy to stop in his tracks and stare at it.

"Percy, help him!"

"But that's-"

"I know, it's the place you described in your dreams, but we have to help him!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Fortunately, one of his shoes slipped off and flew into the chasm, making it easier for him to grab onto a rock to anchor him. Once he managed to stop, we went down and helped him, throwing the shoe straight into the dark hole.

"What's that noise?" I asked Annabeth as a loud hissing sound came from the hole.

"Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."

Percy uncapped his sword, Riptide, and looked around carefully.

We immediately made a run for the palace, not a second too soon because a cold wind tried pulling us back. Eventually, we made it to the top of the tunnel, breathless.

"What was that?" Grover asked, shaking in fear, "One of Hades' pets?"

I looked at Annabeth, it was clear she had an idea, but she refused to voice it out of evident fear. A thousand myths flashed in my head as I tried figuring out what it was, but I wasn't a kid of Athena, so nothing came up.

"Let's go," Percy stated, capping his sword.

* * *

As we walked to Hades' palace, we came across a luscious garden filled with all sorts of plants, poisonous and not. In the centre of it, all laid an orchard of towering pomegranate trees.

"The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said, "keep moving."

The fruit looked inviting, but I recalled the story of those pomegranates. One bite and I'll be stuck here. I saw Percy grab Grover just before he took one as well.

"Should we knock?" Percy questioned once we arrived at the entrance.

"No, we blow up the whole place," I answered sarcastically.

Hot air blew down the corridor, the doors opening as the guards, which I didn't seem to notice, stepped aside.

"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth stated.

Once we stepped inside, I was taken back by Hades' appearance. He was the first god I've met that resembled an actual deity.

He was gigantic, at least double or triple my height, and was sitting comfortably on a bone-made throne, which was seated beside a smaller throne that was much more simple and conservative. He was wearing black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. I couldn't see much else though, I was standing in the back of the group and was smaller than the others.

I could tell Percy tense up, Hades' aura likely affecting him. However, I didn't feel anything at all. I get that I should be afraid, but for some reason, I wasn't.

"You're brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said. "After what you did to me, very bold. Or perhaps, you're foolish, must run in the family." Hades added, a wicked glint in his eyes.

Wasn't _he _related to Poseidon too?

Percy stepped forward and began bargaining with the Lord of the Dead. The longer they talked, something dawned on me. I've been there before, I've been in Hades' palace. I'm not sure when, or even why, but I was there. Maybe I died and my father snuck me out of the Underworld when I was a baby? He might've negotiated with Hades then.

"There is no mistake," Hades stated, bringing me back to the conversation.

_I should stop spacing out..._ I thought with the shake of my head.

"You've come to bargain for her." A ball of fire appeared in his hands, exploding on the steps to his throne. Inside the ball, was a woman, who was shockingly similar to Percy.

Percy stared in disbelief at the woman as the pieces started to come together. This was his mother.

Percy reached out to touch her, recoiling his hand back as if he was burned.

"Yes, I took her. I knew you'll come to bargain for her. Just give me my helm, and I might give her back to you. She isn't dead, but if you displease me, she will be." Hades elaborated, satisfaction unmistakable on his dark face.

Percy paused, possibly considering this before Hades continued.

"Ah, the pearls, my little brother and his tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson." Hades ordered, seeming to have read Percy's mind.

Percy brought the pearls forth, unwillingly as I could tell by his expression.

"Hm... four, you do realize each pearl only protects one person? Take your mother then, and choose one of your friends to stay here with me. Or, give me the backpack and accept my terms," Hades stated.

"We were tricked," I said as Percy turned around to talk to us.

"Yeah, but why?" Annabeth questioned, "And the voice-"

"Decide, godling!" Hades bellowed.

"Percy, you can't give him the bolt, leave me here instead, save your mother instead." Grover offered himself as sacrifice.

"No!"

"I'm a satyr, if he tortures me and ends up killing me, I'll be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best option," Grover reasoned.

"No, I'll stay," Annabeth stated, "Grover, you need to help Percy, it's the only way for you to get your searcher's license and start looking for Pan. Get the others outta here, I'll stay back and fight."

"No, I'll stay instead," I offered, "There's no real reason for me to go back, my father won't bother claiming me anyway. I can hold him off long enough for you guys and your mom to get outta here."

"Stop it, all three of you!" Percy looked torn, not being able to decide on what to do.

"Percy," I began.

"Arina, stop, I have an idea, just take these." He handed us each a pearl.

"Percy, what-" Annabeth started.

"I'm sorry, mom, I'll be back, I promise," Percy said to his mother, seeming hurt. _You'll fail to save what matters most in the end_, that was what Percy said to me several days ago. This is what he meant.

"What..." Hades' smug expression faded.

"I'll find your helm, uncle," Percy stated, "Remember to give Charon a pay raise."

"Do not-"

"And it won't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while, he does love red rubber balls."

"Perseus Jack-"

"Guys! Now!" Percy yelled as we all dropped our pearls and stomped on them.

For a second, nothing happened as Hades ordered his soldiers to attack. Then, we were encased each in a floating orb as the guards tried bursting our bubbles. The last thing I saw before we transported was Hades looking at me, seeming to be bewildered by the sight of me.

* * *

We ended up in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, giving a surfer a minor heart attack while Percy ordered a shark to leave us alone.

Fortunately for us, we were saved by a Coast Guard boat who didn't bother to question us because they were receiving so many distress signals. I looked outside, seeing stores and buildings with plumes of smoke rising above it. I guess we made Hades pretty mad to cause that big of an earthquake or Poseidon was having a heated argument with Zeus.

"It was a trick," Percy stated, "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," Annabeth warned.

They continued talking, Grover being completely clueless as I tried to suppress my anger towards a certain war god.

It was Ares the whole time, how could we be so clueless? I mentally kicked myself for my stupidity. The prophecy said 'You shall go west and faced the god that had turned.' However, it wasn't talking about Hades, who didn't want a war, it was the freaking war god!

As the boat neared the shore, I had to fight the sudden urge to grab Percy's sword and drive it straight through the god in the leather jacket who was seeming to be waiting for us.

"Hey, kid," Ares greeted, "you were supposed to die."

"You tricked me," Percy spat.

"You stole the master bolt, the helm, and framed Percy!" I exclaimed, clenching my fist as I felt another earthquake erupt as Hades was probably looking for us.

"Hold up, I didn't take them, it's against the ancient laws to do that. But you're not the only hero in this world that runs errands." Ares said with a smirk.

"Who? Your daughter, Clarisse?" Percy inquired.

"Kid, who cares, but you were supposed to die down there. Old Seaweed gets mad at Corpse Breath for killing you, my dad gets mad at him too for having his bolt, and Hades' still looking for this." Ares produced a ski cap, the ones robbers wear, and placed it on his bike. It then transformed into a bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness!" Grover exclaimed.

"Yep, and Hades will be mad at both of them because he doesn't know who took it, then we got a three-way slug fight," Ares stated with a grin.

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

"Eh, it's the best kind of war. Nothing beats watching a bloody battle between your father and your uncles." Ares stated, shrugging.

They kept on talking as the earth shook again. _Damn, Hades must be REALLY mad, _I thought, trying not to get knocked over.

"Why not keep the master bolt to yourself?" Percy inquired, "Why send it to Hades?"

"Why didn't I..." Ares' jaw twitched. For a split second, I thought he was listening to another voice. "Yeah... with that kind of power..."

We all looked at each other nervously.

Ares faced cleared, "I didn't want trouble. It was easier giving it to you and catching you redhanded."

"You're lying," I argued, "This wasn't even your plan, was it? You wanted to keep the bolt, but someone told you to send it to the Underworld."

"It was my idea!" Smoke came off around his sunglasses as if his eyes were fire.

"You didn't order the theft," Percy guessed, "you probably caught the thief and someone convinced you into doing this and letting them free. The thing in the pit is ordering you around!"

"I'm the god of war! I take orders from no one! I have had no dreams!" Ares claimed.

Percy and I looked at each other.

"Who said anything about dreams?" Ares started to pale at our question before covering it up with a smirk.

"Let's focus on the real problem, like how you're still alive. No hard feelings, well, there are, but I need to kill you kids." Ares snapped his fingers and a wild boar emerged from the sand, ready to charge at us.

"Fight me yourself, Ares," Percy challenged.

"You don't have any skills, you ran from all your battles. You ran from the Chimera and the Underworld, all you do is run. You don't have what it takes," Ares spat.

"Too scared to fight a 'puny demigod'?" Percy mocked the god of war.

Yep, this dude has a freaking death wish.

"In your dreams," but from the way Ares' sunglasses started to melt, I knew Percy struck a nerve. "No direct interference, sorry kid, but you ain't on my level."

"Percy, run," Annabeth pleaded before the wild boar charge at him.

Percy easily defeated the boar, challenging Ares once more. I think Ares had enough of Percy's backtalk because he brought out a baseball bat, which he then transformed into a sword.

"Percy, he's a god," Annabeth tried persuading him out of it.

"Who's too afraid to fight a couple of demigods," I summoned my twin blades, ready to fight alongside my best friend. Percy smiled at my willingness to fight beside him while the others seemed ready to back away.

"Hmm, it seems like I'll fight two of my relatives," Ares stated with a grin.

"For good luck," Annabeth said.

Percy turned to see Annabeth put something around his neck.

"Reconciliation," Annabeth put her necklace around his neck with the five years' worth of beads and her father's ring. "Athena and Poseidon together,"

"Thanks," Percy stated with a small blush.

"And this," Grover handed me a flattened tin can, "The satyrs stand behind you."

"Grover, I d-don't know what to say," I said, slipping the can into my back pocket of my jeans.

"Y'all done bidding farewell to each other?" Ares inquired, seeming annoyed.

_Ares only has strength, sometimes strength has to bow down to wisdom_, I recalled Annabeth say.

Then we began to fight. I saw Percy move towards the water, which was a strategic move on his part because his strong suit was water. Unfortunately, for me, I had no known powers so I immediately went on offence, swinging my blades at Ares. Ares anticipated this, slashing his sword against my knee.

I gasped in pain, losing my balance and hitting the ground just as Percy began his attack on Ares as well. Once Percy got close to Ares, he kicked him across the sand, Percy landing hard on his back.

"Cops!" Annabeth yelled.

I turned to the side just in time to see the flashing lights and hear the sirens. While I was distracted by this, Ares kicked me again before trying to stab me, which led me to roll over and dodge.

"Call for backup," I heard a police officer ordered as we continued to fight.

"Admit it, I'm just toying with you two, you guys will never win," Ares stated, trying to stab Percy as he rolled onto his feet.

We continued dodging Ares attacks, but that was when my ADHD kicked into gear. It honed in on every move Ares made, anticipating and aiding me in the fighting.

"Drop the guns!" A police officer yelled.

I glanced at Ares' sword and saw it flash from a two-handed sword back to a shotgun. If that's what they saw with Ares' weapon, I don't want to imagine what they see with Percy's and mine.

"This a private matter!" Ares yelled, "Begone!" A fire erupted from the police cars, causing everyone nearby to duck before they exploded.

"Let's add two more ingredients to the barbeque," Ares looked at Percy and I excitedly.

I was stumped, but I could tell Percy had an idea cooking in that brain of his. He lowered his blade as if he was giving up, but just as Ares was about to do the finishing blow, a wave pushed Percy over Ares. The six-foot-tall wave crashed on top of the raging war god, soaking him and diminishing his fires.

While Ares was disoriented, I struck a blow straight through his heel. Ares howled in pain that would have put Hades' earthquakes to shame, pushing back the waves of the ocean.

Ichor, the blood of the gods, oozed out of his boot. The expression on the fearsome god was filled with hatred and utter disbelief. I guess it was his first time getting his arse handed to him by two demigods.

Something happened then while Ares was mumbling Greek curses, a shadow passed over us, absolute darkness. It felt like time slowed down as the temperature dropped dramatically. Life felt like it lost all meaning.

Then it passed, leaving us confused demigods and a stunned god.

"You made a powerful enemy, godlings," Ares sneered at us both. "Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson and Arina Cosma Morales, beware."

His body began to glow.

"Don't look!" Annabeth warned as I turned away, understanding what was happening. One look at Ares' divine form, and I'll be dead.

Once the light had died down, all that remained was the helm of darkness.

Just as Percy was about to pick it up, three old winged-ladies flew down and landed in front of us.

"We saw everything, is it true?" The middle of the three ladies asked.

Percy casually tossed the helmet back to the lady. "Give that back to Hades. Tell Hades the truth, tell him to call off the war."

The three ladies looked at Percy, the middle one saying to him something but I was distracted by one of them staring at me, mildly surprised.

"The Furies," Annabeth whispered to me.

After they left, Percy turned back towards us.

"That was... incredible!" Annabeth exclaimed, "And incredibly stupid! Both of you could've gotten killed!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Percy and I said in unison with an eye roll.

"Anyway, how do we get to New York before midnight?" Grover inquired, reminding us of our quest.

"Well, there's one way," I looked at Percy.

"We fly,


	7. Betrayal by one we call a friend?

**(A/N: Woohoo! This story arc is almost over, then it gets more interesting. Enjoy!)**

Good news, we're not being hunted down by the police anymore! It's amazing what mortals would believe.

According to the news, a kidnapper (aka Ares) abducted us from New York and was the cause of all those explosions and such. Percy just needed to brush up on his acting skills to get us four plane tickets back to New York. Got to emit, fake news isn't all that bad when you know how to use it to your advantage.

Once we landed in New York, we were swarmed by the press. Fortunately for us, Annabeth distracted them while using her invisibility cap before meeting up with us at the baggage claim. Afterwards, Percy told us three to go back to the camp, which Annabeth and Grover obliged too, but I never was good at listening. Once his taxi left, I snuck out of Annabeth and Grover's and took another taxi, telling the driver to get me to the Empire State Building ASAP.

It didn't take me long to get there. I surprisingly arrived at the same time as that Barnacle Boy, who seemed annoyed I followed him.

"It's fine if they'll kill us, we still have Annabeth and Grover," I reassured him.

"Wow, that's such a great confidence boost," Percy replied sarcastically.

"600th floor, please," I told the security guard at the desk.

"No such thing," the guard didn't even bother to look up, just continuing to type on his computer.

"We need an audience with Zeus," Percy elaborated.

For a split second, I was worried that this was just some random mortal that was going to call the straitjacket patrol, but that worry quickly faded away.

"No appointment, no audience, kids. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced." The guard stated, glancing at us for a fraction of a second before typing something.

"Oh, I think he'll make an exception for us." I grabbed Percy's bag and opened it up, revealing the metal cylinder to the guard, whose eyes widened in shock.

"I-is that-"

"Yes, but if you don't want to let us in, I guess we can just take it-"

"No! Here, put this in the slot and make sure no one else is in there with you two!" The guard exclaimed, scrambling out of his seat and handing me a key card.

"Thank you," I said before following Percy towards the elevator.

Once inside, I slipped the key card into the security slot, resulting in a big red button to emerge on the wall that said '600'.

"You'll like to do the honours? This is your quest," I turned towards Percy, who started to look like he might have a panic attack.

"Ye-yeah," Percy pressed the button with a shaky hand as music started to play in the background.

To be honest, it was kind of trashy.

"Relax, you'll be fine," I patted him on the back reassuringly.

"Yeah, hopefully-"

"Stop saying 'hopefully' and start saying 'will'. You _will_ get out of this alive, I promise you that." I said to him, giving him a side hug.

"Yeah... but-"

"Okay, I swear of the River Styx that'll you make out of this alive," I swore as thunder rumbled in the distance.

"A-Arina, you know if-"

"You're my best friend, have some faith," I said, making it clear the discussion was over.

* * *

After getting out of the elevator, which was where Percy and I nearly both died of a heart attack after seeing Manhatten below us, we headed into Olympus.

As we walked through, it felt like I was walking in a dream. Everything felt surreal yet I knew they were real. We passed a marketplace where minor gods tried selling us junk and gardens filled with giggling nymphs that tried and failed, to get Percy's attention.

Seeing the glittering silver and golden towers made me realize how similar the place was to Hades' palace, making me feel bad from him. He was kicked out of the Olympian council and forced underground. Despite all the wrong he did to my friends, I felt pity for him.

Then, we entered the Throne room, which seemed like a huge understatement. It made the parliament back in Massachusetts look like a broom closet. There were spiralling pillars around the place, the roof filled to the brim with constellations. I could feel my inner nerd jump up and down at the sight of Scorpius and Ophiuchus above me, but I managed to contain myself.

Twelve thrones that were the size of Hades' down in the Underworld were in a 'U' formation much like the cabins back at camp covered the majority of the room, but there was also a fire crackling on the side. The thrones were empty except two, who were patiently watching us approach.

Zeus, King of the Gods, was wearing a dark blue pinstriped suit. He sat upon a simple platinum throne. His beard reminded me of a storm, grey and swirling around like dark storm clouds.

On the other hand, the god seated beside him was dressed in shorts, sandals, and a shirt with parrots and coconuts all over it. He had dark hair, which could make him anyone's father, but his eyes were much different. They were sea-green, exactly like Percy's.

He sat on a throne that reminded me of a deepsea fishermen's chair with the dark leather and a holster that usually held a fishing pole, but instead, it held a trident.

I bowed before Zeus, however, much to my surprise, Percy opted to bow before his father, Poseidon.

"Shouldn't you address the master of the house, much like your friend here?" Zeus inquired, his voice echoing across the room.

"Brother, peace," Poseidon replied.

I looked over at Percy, seeing his eyes flood with reconnection. He must recognize his father's voice. I wish I could hear mine too...

"The boy defers himself to his father. This is only logical," Poseidon reasoned with his brother.

"You still claim him as your son?" Zeus asked threateningly as I felt electricity spark in the air.

"I emit to my wrongdoings, but now we shall let them speak," Poseidon stated calmly.

The two brothers had a short argument as I saw a look of hurt cross Percy's face. I wish I could say something to him then, but I was worried the gods would take it the wrong way.

"Perseus," Poseidon said, "look at me."

Percy looked up at his father's face, not seeming able to read his father's expression that well. Unlikely Percy, whose face you could easily use to tell his emotions, his father was much more stoic. He could either be happy, angry, and disappointed in Percy at that moment, his face not conveying any emotion.

"Address Lord Zeus, my son, and you as well," Poseidon nodded in my direction.

Percy and I began explaining what happened, how we retrieved the bolt, Ares' betrayal, everything we recalled up until that moment.

After we finished explaining, I pulled out the cylinder of the bolt, which crackled in Zeus' presence, and laid it at his feet.

Zeus opened his palm, the bolt flying into his hands immediately.

"I sense the children speak the truth," Zeus agreed, "But for Ares to do something this... it is so unlike him."

"He is proud and impulsive, runs in the family," Poseidon stated with a smirk.

"Lord?" Percy asked.

"Yes?" they responded in unison.

"We think Ares didn't act alone. Someone else- or maybe something else- came up with the plan." I voiced our idea.

Percy began explaining his dreams about the pit down in the Underworld. The entrance to Tartarus.

"So, you accuse Hades?" Zeus questioned.

"No," I began, "I mean, Lord Zeus, we've been in the presence of Hades, but the one we felt at the beach was quite different. It was the same feeling I got when we were close to the pit. It was the entrance to Tartarus, right? Something's rising down there, older than the gods themselves."

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other, whispering in Ancient Greek so fast I could barely understand a thing. However, I did hear one thing, _father_.

"This discussion is over. I shall bathe this bolt to remove the human taint from it. When I come back, I expect both of you to be gone lest you want to feel what it is like getting struck down by the King of the Gods." Zeus said, flashing out of the room.

"Your uncle... has a flair for dramatic entrances and exits," Poseidon stated with the shake of his head.

Poseidon and Percy began discussing what was in the pit. It's likely to be Kronos, who is rising once more to defeat his children. Afterwards, they had a heartfelt father-son conversation as I debated if I should pop the question.

"Um... Lord Poseidon, " I began, causing him to glance my way, "d-do you know who my father is?"

Poseidon looked at me, carefully observing me. His eyes widened suddenly.

"Yes... but I will let him claim you when the time is right." Poseidon admitted, "But don't worry, your father is impatient so it won't be too long."

He whispered something to Percy quietly just before we left, but I knew it was something good by the way Percy smiled.

* * *

"You sure you don't mind coming along with me?" Percy asked me as we rode in a taxi to his apartment.

Apparently, Hades returned his mother the moment he received his helm back.

"I'm fine with it," I stated with a shrug, "not like I have anything waiting back for me at camp."

My father's impatient, which is a trait I carry myself. When will my father claim me already? I've waited for like a month now, how long does it take to claim a child? Or is he just embarrassed about my existence?

"C'mon, you have lots waiting for you back at camp. I bet you gave Annabeth and Grover a heart attack by not being at the camp with them right now." Percy said, nudging me.

Soon we arrived at his apartment where I awkwardly stood outside as his mother pulled him into a tight hug.

"And who's this?" His mother, Sally Jackson, inquired, "I think you're a bit young to have a girlfriend already, Percy." Percy and I blushed in unison as his mother teased him.

I decided to wait outside the apartment as he sorted out his affairs inside, playing with the drawstring on my Waterland hoodie/shirt.

After what felt like an hour of me thinking of my possible father, Percy came out with a smile.

"Everything all sorted?" I asked him.

"My mom's in good hands," he replied cryptically.

"I hope you mean her own hands or I'll have to teach you a listen about what the definition of 'good hands' means." I cautioned him because I've seen his step-father lie on TV, causing him to laugh.

After that, we took a taxi back to Camp Half-Blood. Along the way, we brainstormed my possible father.

"It could be anyone, the only gods we've met were Dionysius,"

"Ew, no," I gagged at the thought of _him_ being my father.

"Zeus, Hades, Ares, definitely not him, or my father," Percy finished, tapping his chin.

"Well, I doubt it's your father, why wouldn't he just claim me?" I inquired.

Percy eyed me carefully, just like his dad did, before asking, "When's your birthday?"

"December 5, 1993," I answered.

"Yeah, I don't think you're my sister, he would have gotten your mom pregnant when he was dating my mom," Percy said with the shake of his head.

"When's _your_ birthday?"

"August 18, same year," Percy replied with a minor smirk, "Guess I'm older than you."

"Ha, ha, very funny," I replied sarcastically.

"Doubt your Dionysius' daughter though, he would have claimed you as well," Percy stated, ticking off another one on the list.

"Well, that's a relief," I agreed.

"Have you met any other gods?" Percy questioned.

"Just Artemis," I stated.

"Do any of them seem familiar, from the ones we met?" Percy asked me curiously.

"Well, not really," I said.

"Maybe you're Charon's daughter! He seemed surprised to see you," Percy guessed.

"Nah, probably because I wasn't dyslexic or I looked too alive." I shrugged, dismissing his idea.

"You never know," Percy teased, "You're the daughter of the ferryman of the dead." He announced, earning a slap from me.

"Shut up, Barnacle Boy,"

"Whatever, Ferrywoman," he stated, creating a horrible nickname for me.

"Oh gods," I groaned in annoyance.

Soon, we arrived at Camp Half-Blood. We quickly paid for our taxi before walking up to Half-Blood Hill.

"To think, a girl our age died right," I stated, standing beside a pine tree.

"I can make it two girls now," I turned and saw Annabeth marching towards me in anger.

"D-did I forget to mention I went with Percy?" I inquired with a nervous laugh.

"You had me so worried! Grover, FAINTED!" Annabeth exclaimed as we walked to Chiron.

"Ah, Arina, good to see Annabeth has found you," Chiron nodded towards the fuming daughter of wisdom.

Afterwards, everyone praised us because apparently, we were the only questers to have returned alive since Luke. We ended up wearing laurel wreaths and having a big feast for our achievement. Seemingly, everyone forgot Percy was a Son of Poseidon and a beacon for trouble.

We also got to burn our burial shrouds that were made for us by our cabins, or my temporary cabin. Funny thing, Percy got punch by Annabeth by saying it's a shame she wasn't being buried with it. I think the best to burn was Percy's though, which was designed by the Ares' cabin because he didn't have any cabinmates. Let's just say, it was pretty funny.

We had a sing-along with the Apollo cabin as we ate s'mores. I think the only people who weren't in a party mood was the Ares' cabin because we embarrassed their dad. Ha, that's what you get for trying to bloody murder me.

I could tell Percy didn't feel that lonely after that night, he was surrounded by all of his old Hermes' cabin friends and some others. I, however, still kind of did.

Other kids hadn't been claimed like me, but they hid their disappointment far better than me. To be honest, I guess we bonded because our parents didn't claim us. We could associate with anyone without any strings attached, no past family rivalries to worry about.

* * *

The Fourth of July soon came up. Annabeth told Percy and I about how the fireworks were so close together it created an animation in the sky.

As the three of us set up a blanket to watch the show, Grover came up to us.

"I'm off..." Grover said, "Just wanted to say... well... y'know..."

When we got back, Grover received his searcher's license. Now, he can begin his quest of looking for Pan.

"You got everything you need?" I asked him as we each gave him a hug, mine being the most awkward.

Compared to the others, I've known Grover the least. Annabeth had known him since she was seven, Percy has known him for a year now, and I've only known him since I came to camp.

"Yeah,"

"Tin cans? Reed pipes?" Annabeth checked.

"Annabeth, I'm fine, you sound like a mama goat," Grover grumbled, slinging his backpack on.

"Wish me luck," he stated before turning and heading back towards the dunes.

That's when the fireworks started. Images of Heracles killing the Nemean Lion, Artemis hunting the boar, George Washington, who was a son of Athena, crossing Delaware appeared above us.

"Hey Grover," Percy called out to his friend, "where ever you're going, I hold they make good enchiladas." The comment made Grover grinned before he continued walking.

The summer was good after that, filled with laughter and pranks, curtesy of the Stolls. My summer was filled with long nights on the Hermes' cabin's roof, stargazing, planning strategies for Capture the Flag, and just hanging around with my friends.

At the end of summer, after we had our last meal together, we sat around the campfire as the head counsellors awarded us our end-of-summer beads.

I got my leather necklace which had a bead that made Percy blush. It was a pitch-black bead with a sea-green trident in the centre.

"To commemorate our first Son of the Sea God at Camp Half-Blood," Luke elaborated as we all stood up, starting clapping and cheering.

At that moment, I felt like I _really_ had a family. The sad part was, most of them would be leaving tomorrow while I stay here.

The next morning I walked to the Big House to tell Chiron or Mr. D that I plan to stay for the school year.

I could go back home, but I doubt my mother was either alive nor cared if I was gone. There were no missing children reports filed from Massachusetts, so I assume she's dead or doesn't care. It's not like I had much I liked at home. The only thing that held any real value was my brother, but he went missing a year ago.

"Arina, you plan on staying?" Chiron inquired after I found him on the porch with Mr. D playing pinochle.

"Yes, I plan on staying," I stated.

Mr. D looked up from his cards before saying, "Yeh know, Abigal, you remind me of someone."

"It's Arina, but yes, Mr. D?"

"You sort of remind me of- actually, that's impossible," he grumbled the last part focussing on his game.

UGH! What's with every god I meet stating they remind them of someone but they don't tell me _who_ I remind them of.

"Chiron, why aren't there cabins for minor gods?" I questioned the centaur randomly.

"Hmm... I do not know," Chiron admitted, "that would solve the overpopulation issue in cabin eleven though."

"And why aren't there cabins for Hestia and Hades?" I asked, thundering rumbling in the distance.

"You ask too many questions, Annabeth," Mr. D said.

I was about to press on further when I heard a faint buzzing in my ear, which made me go off balance for a second.

"Arina? Are you alright?" Chiron inquired, looking at me worriedly.

"Fine... just heard something," I stated before I heard yelling.

I turned around to see several nymphs carry a body towards the centre of the cabins. One look and I froze, knowing exactly who it was.

Percy.

Chiron and I ran towards the crowd being formed around my, hopefully, unconscious friend. A glance at his face almost made me gag because he was green, turning a sickly shade of grey. I'm pretty sure some of the Aphrodite campers actually fainted from the sight.

"Get him into the sickroom immediately," Chiron said before blowing a conch horn.

I helped carry Percy's legs as Lee supported his head while we ran towards the Big House, two other Apollo campers, Will Solace and Michael Yew, standing ready to help. Once they got a hold of him, I backed off and waited for Chiron and Annabeth to come up.

"Oh my gods, what happened?" Annabeth asked me.

"H-how am I suppose to know!" I exclaimed, rubbing my left shoulder nervously.

"Can we see him?" Annabeth questioned.

"Let the boys do the work, if you're there, it might distract them," Chiron answered before going inside to likely help.

I sat Annabeth down at the table where Mr. D was looking at his cards, seeming impatient.

"Can you even _fake_ some empathy, Mr. D?" I inquired.

"I do have that capability, but I don't squander it on demigods like yourself," Mr. D elaborated, summoning a can of Diet Coke.

Annabeth had to hold me back from punching the can out of his hands. I was lucky I was a camper, or else Mr. D would've turned me into a dolphin or made me go insane.

"Y'know, you look a lot like your mother," Mr. D said quietly.

"W-what?" I calmed down slightly, confused how he would know my mother.

Oh, gods... please don't tell me he's _actually_ my father.

"Same hair, she was a nice woman until... well, yeah," Mr. D started fiddling with the pull-tab on his can.

"What happened?"

"It's nothing, really, just she pissed some god off and now she's well... her," Mr. D explained quickly.

I felt a burning hatred towards the gods form slowly in the back of my mind. First, my father won't claim me, next, no one would tell me who he is even though I remind people of him. Lastly, some god did something to my mother and made her who she is. My childhood was wasted away because some god thought it was okay?

How did she piss them off anyway? Was it my dad? That's why he won't claim me and own up to it? Is he that ashamed of my mother and I?

* * *

Percy woke up later, Annabeth visiting him while I tried weaselling out more information about my father from Chiron and Mr. D.

"I say you remind me of your mother, you think I know who your father is?" Mr. D complained, seeming exasperated by my attempts.

"You said you remind me of him!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms in frustration. "Do you know who my father is?" I turned to the centaur in question.

"I have my theories, but there isn't solid evidence because you haven't displayed any sort of powers," Chiron stated, infuriating me.

I turned and marched straight into the Big House, deciding to channel my anger towards something else.

"What happened?" I opened the door to Percy's room, seeing him and Annabeth sitting beside each other and talking.

"Oh, hey Arina," Annabeth greeted somewhat nervously, likely sensing my anger from my previous conversation.

"You okay?" Percy asked me skeptically as I walked into the room.

"Just mad at all the gods right now, nothing big," I shrugged, "but you dodged my question. What. Happened?"

Percy explained that Luke brought him to the woods, complaining about how the gods treat him and demigods. Turns out Luke works for Kronos and tried killing Percy with a pit scorpion before escaping.

"Oh, I'm gonna kill that boy," I said, wanting to get revenge for him almost killing my best friend.

"I-it's fine, Arina, I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Why did you even go into the woods with him? He asked me the same thing this morning but I said no," I stated.

"He did?" I turned around and saw Chiron standing at the door.

"Yeah, when I was still in the cabin he asked me if I wanted to go hunt some monsters with Percy in the woods, but I could tell something was up. He hasn't said more than two words to each of us the moment we came back to camp from our quest." I explained, Chiron stood there, thinking.

"I'll report the incident to Olympus-" Chiron began before Percy interrupted him.

"Luke's out there now, who knows what he could do!" Percy exclaimed, "I'm going after him."

I looked at Percy's hand, which was bandaged like a club, knowing he won't be even able to open a door with that hand, nonetheless fight a rogue demigod.

"No, Percy, the gods-"

"Zeus said the case was closed! He won't talk about it!" I shouted.

Percy and I debated with Chiron before being silenced by thunder overhead.

"Fine!" Chiron sighed in frustration, "The gods have their reasons, knowing your future never leads to anything good."

"We can't sit around and do nothing," I argued.

"We won't sit back, but you kids must be patient. Kronos wants anger and fear to control you, but to prevent that, you must be patient and wait. Train, and when the time is right, we will fight." Chiron stated calmly.

"If we even live that long," Percy grumbled crossly.

"You will, but for now, I need to know if you wish to remain in camp with Arina, or go back to school and return next year." Chiron said, "I expect an answer when I return from Olympus."

I could tell Percy wanted to argue with Chiron by his expression, he probably had a million questions bubbling up inside him.

"Oh, and Annabeth, they're waiting," Chiron added before he left.

"Who's waiting?" Percy and I turned to Annabeth curiously.

Annabeth seemed distracted, not answering either of us.

"I'm going outside," Percy said, swinging his legs out of the bed

"Um, Percy," Percy nearly fell to the ground if I hadn't grabbed him in time. Annabeth took the other side as well.

"I'm fine," Percy insisted. I could tell he didn't want to lay around, so I helped him outside. Annabeth was much more hesitant though.

Percy explained to us how he thought Chiron wanted him to stay yearlong, but he felt like that wasn't what he wanted. He felt bad that he was leaving us both with Clarisse though.

"I took your advice, Percy... I wrote to my dad..." Annabeth admitted suddenly.

"What?" I was shocked. Annabeth left home so many times, gave her dad so many chances, all ending in disaster, but she was willing to go back? I don't think I was capable of doing that...

"That took guts," Percy commented.

"Just... don't do anything stupid this year, _especially_ you, Percy," Annabeth stated to us both.

"Hey!"

"At least send me an Iris-Message," Annabeth said.

"I won't go looking for trouble," Percy promised.

"It usually looks for me anyway, probably more now since I'm staying at the camp with Clarisse," I complained with my arms crossed. "But I'll be fine," I reassured them both.

"When I come back next summer, we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, and if we don't get one, we'll go anyway," Annabeth assured us.

"Seems like a plan worthy of Athena," I agreed.

"See ya, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said to Percy first, "and we'll find out who's your father." She added for me.

"See you, Wise Girl," Percy bid farewell afterwards.

"I'm gonna miss you," I hugged her briefly.

"It's only a couple of months, I'll IM you for your birthday," Annabeth promised me.

With that, Annabeth walked up Half-Blood Hill, hugging her father awkwardly. She took one last glance down at us before walking outside of the barrier.

"What about you, Barnacle Boy, staying or leaving?" I inquired.

"You know, my mom wouldn't mind if you came an stayed with us," Percy offered.

"W-what?"

"I can ask my mom if she's okay with taking you in over the school year, maybe we could go to the same school," Percy offered.

I wanted to, but I had this feeling I should stay at camp. I had a feeling I would find out something important long as I stayed.

"Hm... maybe next time, I have a feeling I'm needed here." I declined Percy's offer.

"You sure?" Percy asked, "IM me if you ever change your mind." He headed down towards his cabin.

"See you next summer," I called out to him.

"See ya, Ferrywoman!"

"See you soon, Barnacle Boy!"

**(Sorry about the mistake, I accidentally posted the wrong chapter. I'm not sure what's wrong with my computer right now so I'll try to fix all the mistakes. Thank you for understanding!)**


	8. Percy & I had horrible deduction skills

**Enjoy!**

I was walking through the camp, saying goodbye to the last of my friends who hadn't left quite yet.

I knew Miranda was still here, she was the head counsellor for the school year. There was also Silena and Beckendorf, I could tell something was happening between them for sure, and the Stoll brothers. Then there's Annabeth's second-in-command, Malcolm Pace. Unfortunately, the Ares cabin stayed yearlong too.

"You sure there's nothing between you and Beckendorf?" I asked Silena as we walked to the Dining Pavilion together.

There were fewer campers so we didn't have to go with our cabins to eat meals during the school year, apparently.

"Y-yep, nothing at all," Silena said, seeming to be trying to reassure herself more than me.

"Uh-huh, sure..." I replied with an eye roll.

"What about you and Percy?" Silena inquired, nudging me.

"What? He's _just_ a friend. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he likes Annabeth, and she likes him back. I don't want to jeopardize my friendship with them." I stated, denying my possible feelings for the Son of the Sea God.

I guess Percy's funny, quirky, and cute, but I think of him like a brother too much, which makes it kind of gross. However, I could tell by the way he looks at Annabeth that he likes her, like, A LOT. I don't want to hurt my childhood best friend just because of some stupid guy.

"Uh-huh, I saw you staring at him the first day you met," Silena teased me.

"You're just trying to distract me from my original question," I argued.

"There's nothing at all!" Silena defended herself.

"'Nothing at all', what?" We both turned and saw Beckendorf staring at us.

"Yeah, Silena, 'nothing at all' what?" I questioned with a smirk.

"I hate you, Arina,"

"Eh, I'll add it to the list," I shrugged off.

At dinner, I schemed with the Stolls on pranks we could pull on the Ares' campers and other people. Afterwards, we had a brief campfire sing-along before we were all sent to bed. However, I had this feeling I should head to the woods.

Which I did.

I as I walked towards the woods, I imagined everything Annabeth would criticize me about. First, I was listening to a gut feeling, which wasn't logic, second, it was the middle of the night.

As I wandered through the empty camp, something dawned on me. _Weren't there harpies that happened to come out at night? _However, I wasn't that worried. I felt like they wouldn't attack me, a tiny imaginary Annabeth in my mind yelling at me for not doing anything stupid.

I stopped at this giant cluster of rocks, Zeus' Fist as dubbed by Chiron. The campers, on the other hand, said it looked like a pile of dung. You see why it's called Zeus' Fist instead.

Once at the cluster, a hellhound appeared. I summoned my blades, ready to attack, but the hellhound just stared at me before sitting down, tilting their head.

"Wha..." suddenly, a dark shadow consumed me.

* * *

I collapsed onto my hands and knees on the ground, disoriented and a bit dizzy.

"Ugh..." I groaned, falling backwards onto my butt and looking around the room warily.

It seemed familiar, but my head was swimming still so I had trouble focussing. However, I did notice it was pretty dark.

"Sorry about that, my husband is a bit too straight forward sometimes." I heard a voice say.

I turned to my left, seeing a lady in a pale blue dress standing beside a door.

"What... where am I?" I inquired, rubbing my head.

"You're in the Underworld," the lady explained, confusing me further.

Why would I be in the Underworld? Wait... if I'm in the Underworld then...

"You're P-Persephone," I stuttered in shock.

"Yes, and you already met my husband."

"W-why does Lord Hades want me?"

Persephone looked mildly surprised, "I thought a demigod as powerful as yourself would have figured it out. Come, my husband doesn't like to be kept waiting." She motioned me to follow her through the door.

I followed, albeit more unsteady. My brain still felt a bit fuzzy as I tried to figure out why Hades wanted me here. _I didn't do anything to offend him... right?_ I started feeling uncomfortable, thinking about the millions of things I could've done to upset the Lord of the Dead.

"Here, I'll let you talk to him, I have a garden to tend too." Persephone led me back into the room with the thrones I visited last time I was down there before exiting.

"Lord Hades," I was about to kneel when he stopped me.

"Stop, there is no need to bow before me," Hades stated, seeming much more gentle compared to the last time I saw him.

"Um... why have you brought me down here?" I questioned, feeling more uneasy the longer I remained there without answers.

"Wow, that demigod Perseus Jackson has had a great influence on your deduction skills," Hades said with the shake of his head.

"What-"

Suddenly, the room went dead silent. Before it had quiet whispering, probably the Furies or dead souls roaming around, but all of it stopped.

I was more confused than I ever was before, more than the time the Hunters of Artemis saved my life.

"Look up," I looked above me and gasped in shock, seeing a black helm engulfed in dark fire.

"You're my daughter," I stared at Hades, bewildered as the pieces started coming together.

"W-w-what? How?" it made sense, yet I was still confused.

That was why the Furies, Charon, and every other individual I encountered in the Underworld I've met seemed so shocked to see me. They recognized me as the daughter of the Lord of the Dead.

"Well, many years ago, I've met an incredibly beautiful and kind woman. She was your mother," Hades began.

"Are you sure we're even talking about the same woman?" I asked, skeptical, "My mother is always high and she forgot I lived in her apartment twice! She didn't even care I went to Camp Half-Blood while Percy was all over the news!" I exclaimed in fury.

"Your mother wasn't always like this, I tried getting revenge on the god who did this to her, but he was safely hidden away with my brother's protection." Hades spat, seeming to match my anger but directed it to someone else.

"Who?"

Hades hesitated for a moment, looking like he'll regret his next decision.

"It doesn't matter now, it has been done. There's no way I, or him, can bring her back." Hades stated, appearing mildly disappointed.

"What happened to my brother then? Is he your son too?" I inquired.

"You'll find out in due time, but he is not one of mine. He is though, still a demigod." Hades promised, making me annoyed by how he won't reveal anything to me.

"Why did you bother claiming me down here? Why not claim me up there?" I asked, still harbouring anger and slight resentment for his neglect.

"You saw what happened to your friend when his father claimed him, he was shunned. Even if you succeeded on your quest, you'll see be an outcast. My children will never be welcomed at that camp, they'll be forever ignored like myself."

"Then why didn't you tell me in private?"

"I am right now," he stated.

"Ugh... that's not what I meant..." I grumbled.

"Why didn't I Iris-Message you, did you mean?"

"Yes, that's what I meant," I replied, still not trusting him for kidnapping me.

First, he kidnaps Persephone. Next, he kidnaps me. What's next then?

"None of the gods know of your existence, I could not call upon Iris to contact you."

"But Charon and Poseidon-" I was prepared to argue.

"Charon answers to me, and only me, while the others' have their theories, they cannot prove I'm your father. If you're willing to accept me, I'm willing to tell the council," Hades explained.

I stood there, thinking. Would any of the other gods try killing me? Wait... didn't Ares say...

"Doesn't Ares know?" I inquired.

"That pathetic war god has _ideas_, like I said, nothing to prove. He thinks you're my child, but there is no solid proof. However, according to my servants, you do hold an uncanny resemblance."

I stared at the god in disbelief, not sure if I should take what he said as a compliment or an insult.

I didn't see one thing similar about Hades and I besides our eye colours, for starters. Also, his aura was practically _radiating_ death and fear, while I radiated, well, nothing because I was a mortal.

"You don't see the similarities, because ours are beyond the physical. Have you ever had someone jump back after you glared at them?" Hades questioned.

I thought back, have I ever glared at anyone that seriously scared-

"Yeah, I have, numerous times now that I think of it. I always thought it was because of something else though," I realized.

"We scare people with just one look, that's how the rest of the gods compared us, the way we strike fear into the hearts of our enemies and allies," Hades elaborated.

"Okay..." I nodded my head as I started to accept the fact my dad was the King of the Underworld.

"I apologize for shadow travelling you here so abruptly as well." Okay, I must admit, hearing Hades apologize was beyond weird.

"I'll return you to Camp Half-Blood, my wife doesn't like to be kept waiting." He added somewhat uncomfortably.

"Wait... what's shadow travelling? Also, do I have any powers? I've seen Demeter kids control plants and Percy can control water, do I have any powers?" I inquired before he bring me back to the camp.

Hades paused for a moment, thinking. "Yes, but I have many powers and you might not inherit them all. I will tell Chiron of this later on so he could train you himself."

"Um... one more thing!" My dad wouldn't smite me if I keep on holding him back, right? "Could _I_ try shadow travelling myself there." It seemed interesting and dangerous at the same time, two things Annabeth would be conflicted between.

"You sure you want to do this, Arina?" Hades looked worried, which seemed like an odd expression on his face.

Hades is just FULL of surprises today, huh? First, he's my father. Next, he displays human emotions. Third, he freaking APOLOGIZED to me!

"Yes, just tell me how," I said ambitiously.

Hades quickly went over how I was supposed to shadow travel. According to him, it took a considerable amount of energy, but the more you do it, the less it drains. Well, like not consecutively, of course.

"Just focus on the place you want to go," Hades stated.

I focussed on Camp Half-Blood, preferably the woods. I imagined myself just slipping into a shadow and reappearing in the camp.

"One, two, three," then I went into the shadows.

* * *

"... awake?" I heard someone say distantly.

"Should we bring her back?" Another voice asked.

"No, idiot, we leave her in the woods." A person replied sarcastically.

"Argh..." I groaned, opening my eyes but immediately being blinded by a bright light.

"Arina? Are you okay?" I heard someone inquire.

I blinked a couple of times, my vision starting to focus on three demigods above me.

"What happened?" Silena questioned, helping me up from my back.

I shook my head, _was that all a dream?_ My meeting with Hades felt real, but was it? Did the hellhound bite me and made me hallucinate before passing out?

"Um... I'm not sure," and that was the truth.

"What's the last thing you remember?" One of the Stoll brothers asked me as Silena maintained a firm grasp on my arm because I was swaying while standing on my own.

"Um... I was in the woods... it was night, and there was a hellhound too." I stated, not feeling comfortable about lying to my friends.

"How long was I out?"

"We've been looking for you for about three days now," Silena admitted nervously.

Hold up... THREE DAYS? How long was I unconscious? Better question, how long was I in the Underworld?

"We should probably bring you to Chiron though, just to check if you're all good." The other Stoll brother said.

I nodded before they helped me walk towards the Big House. I was still pretty shaky and I was extremely tired, I could probably pass out for a week if I was lucky.

"Arina!" Beckendorf exclaimed when he saw the others and I walk towards him and Chiron.

"H-hey," I greeted in reply shakily.

"Let's get you into the Big House," Chiron stated, eyeing me with an unreadable expression.

I nodded as I was walked into the building, the others explaining where I was to Chiron and Beckendorf along the way. Once I was in a room, the others left, all wishing me well.

"My d-dad contacted you, right?" I inquired as I sat on a bed.

"Yes, he explained the situation to me, told me you'll try shadow travelling on your own, which was quite unwise it being your first time," Chiron said, handing me a square of ambrosia.

"It's fine- I mean _I'm_ fine, just a bit tired," I reassured him, taking a bite of the ambrosia.

If the ambrosia couldn't have killed me, I would have eaten more. I, however, just ate one piece and drank a glass of nectar, returning half of my strength.

"We will begin your training once you're rested and finished recovering," Chiron elaborated.

"Chiron, have I really been gone for three days?" I asked him, not quite believing my friends.

"Your father contacted me five days ago about you travelling here, but we've been looking for you since Connor and Travis noticed you weren't in the cabin in the morning, so more like four," Chiron explained to me quickly.

I tried to wrap my head around the fact I was unconscious for about half a week now. It just seemed so... impossible. Wouldn't someone have found me by then? I was just lying by Zeus' Fist, haven't I?

"We've searched the entirety of the area twice, this was the second check. I'm unsure why we didn't find you at Zeus' Fist the first time," Chiron looked deep in thought before I yawned.

"You should rest, you'll need it if we are to begin with your training," Chiron suggested, walking out of the room.

"Thanks..." I sighed as I felt a wave of exhaustion hit me.

I laid back on the bed. The moment my head made contact with the pillow, I was fast asleep.


	9. Training sucks when you pass out

**(A/N: Hoped you enjoyed the last chapter, here's the new one that's _hopefully_ fixed! Some italicized and bolded words are messed up)**

**(A/N: I reposted half of the story because for some reason a chapter was missing, AGAIN, ugh. Sorry and I hope you all will still keep reading)**

After I rested in the Big House, which was like three days, I returned to my cabin with the Stoll brothers.

"You seriously searched there twice, but didn't notice me?" I asked the boys.

"Yeah, we've gone there twice and were about to leave if it weren't for Silena telling us you were lying there!" Connor exclaimed.

I finally figured out the difference between them, great, right? After like four months, I noticed Connor was shorter than Travis, but not that much.

"Really? Wow, guess I've got to thank Silena when I see her then." I stated, nodding my head.

"You don't remember where you've been for those four days?" Travis inquired skeptically.

I hesitated, not wanting to tell them about me being taken to the Underworld and the fact I'm Hades' daughter.

"Um... not really, it's mostly foggy anyway. The last clear thing I saw was the hellhound showing up." It was the partial truth, my encounter with Hades _was_ blurry and everything afterwards was a complete mystery to me. Even my father didn't know where I went.

"I don't think hellhounds kidnap demigods, do they?" Connor asked his brother.

"Well, if they did none of those demigods have returned, right?" Travis replied with a shrug before we entered the Dining Pavilion.

The rest of the month consisted of hanging out with my friends, insulting Clarisse and her cabinmates, and training with Chiron.

The training was okay, I guess. It sounded better than it actually was. Don't worry, I didn't sit in a room and read boring books, but the exhaustion from using my powers was pretty bad. It was even harder to find a place _outside_ to train when everywhere you go, you could have a couple of eavesdroppers. Well, the eavesdropper thing was resolved once I learned how to control the Mist.

I had a pretty strong influence over it, easily being able to manipulate it to hide me when I'm summoning the dead. Also, remember all those earthquakes that use to show up? Turns out, I caused them. I always thought it was because I lived on a fault line, but it turns out it was my powers.

"Arina, I think you should head to the Big House and-"

"Rest? No, I'm fine, just- need- to-" I stumbled forward, out of breath and losing my control over the Mist around Chiron and I.

"You've worked hard enough today," Chiron stated. "Do you need me-"

"I'm fine, I have some ambrosia stored in my cabin." I declined his offer of escorting me, choosing to walk myself to cabin eleven from the arena.

Fortunately, I didn't run into anyone until I got near the 'U' formation of cabins.

"Hey look, it's our late bloomer," Clarisse teased, gesturing towards my direction as she sat in a circle with the other campers.

"Shut up, I easily whooped your father, who says I can't beat you?" I retorted, heading straight for my cabin.

"Arina, you wanna-"

"I'm fine," I rejected someone's, I don't know who, offer, wanting to pass out on my bed immediately and drink a bottle of nectar, ASAP.

Once in my cabin, I walked towards a bunk, which was given to me after Luke left because of my success in the quest. I tried denying their gift, but eventually, they forced me into the bed.

I grabbed my water bottle that I filled with nectar and took a huge chug before collapsing onto my bed.

"Ugh... I hate being a demigod sometimes..." I grumbled, finishing the bottle of nectar.

I laid down, wondering if I should go to the Big House and get more nectar, or do that tomorrow. Chiron might think I'm drinking too much of it, which could burn me alive.

I decided I'll do it tomorrow, but tonight, I'll just read.

——

"Hey," I felt someone shaking me.

"Dude, do _this,_" I felt cold water being dumped on me, causing me to jump up and punch the nearest person.

"OW!" I heard someone yelp.

I rubbed my eyes, getting the sleep out of them as I looked around, seeing a smirk on one of the Stoll brother's faces while the other was rubbing their new black eye.

"You should've expected me to punch you," I stated, getting out of my bunk and dropping my book.

"I didn't think you'll punch _that_ hard," Travis grumbled, being the one I punched.

"Anyway, why did you guys wake me up?" I inquired, picking up my book.

"Well, it's morning, and we were supposed to do that prank today," Connor said, slipping on his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

I consider the Stoll brothers my family now so it wasn't that weird to see them shirtless.

"Oh right, you guys have the supplies?" I questioned, lacing up my combat boots.

"Yep," they replied.

"Okay, well I'll meet you at the Dining Pavilion, I'm just gonna get dressed first," I told them before shoeing them both out of our cabin.

Oddly enough, we were the only three in the cabin for the school year, leaving me forced to sleep with one eye opened usually. We may be partners in crime, but they still prank me on occasion.

Once I changed into my Waterland hoodie/shirt, one of the only things I owned, I walked to the Dining Pavilion, running into Clarisse and Silena talking.

"If you greet me with another insult, I'll punch you," I told Clarisse before she could even open her mouth.

Clarisse and I aren't _enemies_, but we still don't like being in each other's presence. That's understandable though, she nearly killed me and I embarrassed her father. However, Silena said it was an accident and Clarisse just wanted to prank me, she didn't expect me to get a concussion and nearly drown.

"Hey Arina, are you okay?" Silena asked, "You seemed really tired last night." She pointed-out worriedly.

"I'm fine, just trained a bit _too_ hard," I admitted. It's not a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth.

Silena eyed me doubtfully, not believing me.

"Why is Chiron training you one-on-one anyway?" Silena inquired.

"Um..." _think of a lie, think of a lie, think-_

"Isn't it obvious, she needs major help in her fighting skills. She wouldn't have defeated my dad without Jackson's help," Clarisse scoffed.

"So you're saying Percy's good at fighting?" I asked her.

"What? Of course not, I just think-"

"How about we stop arguing and just eat breakfast?" Silena questioned, breaking the tension of our conversation.

"Fine," I mumbled before heading to my table for breakfast.

After being served and sacrificing a part of our meals to our godly parents, Chiron made an announcement.

"Today, we will be holding a training exercise down by the lake. You will be competing on teams based on your cabins.

"We understand that because it is the school year there aren't that many campers, so cabins will partner up to equal two teams, twelve campers on each team. However, cabin five will be split in half because they're the largest," Chiron announced.

There was quiet murmuring after that.

"What about the prank?" Connor whispered.

"We can do it later, or go down to the lake after we set it up," his older brother answered.

"Team A will be half of cabin five, they'll be a notice in your cabin saying which group you're supposed to be in, cabin six, cabin eleven, and cabin twelve. Team B will be the other half of cabin five, cabin seven, and cabin ten." Chiron explained further.

Is that really twelve in each team? Wow, the camp _is_ small during the school year.

"What's the training exercise?" I heard someone ask from table seven.

"That'll be a surprise for you brats," Mr. D stated with a smirk from his table.

"But you will get a notice saying what you may need in your cabins and the time of the exercise," Chiron added more nicely than the wine god.

After breakfast, we had a cabin inspection. I'm not sure how, but our cabin got messier once I left it. Silena only gave us a two-point-five out of five.

"Just glad they didn't find the silly string," Travis said as we waited in front of our cabin for the notice from Chiron.

A second later, a nymph came by, dropping off the notice and failed to flirt with Travis.

"Heh, a nymph likes you," I nudged him with a laugh.

"They're all terrible flirts," Connor stated with the shake of his head.

"I have my eyes on someone else, anyway," Travis stated, reading the notice.

"Ooh, who?" I inquired.

"Is it Silena?" Connor guessed, "Or maybe another cabin ten girl?"

"Nope, anyway, it says we should pack a swimsuit and a rust-proof weapon," Travis said after he finished reading the sheet.

"Lemme see," I snatched the paper out of his hands, reading the sheet quickly.

_Requirements_:

_ \- swimsuit_

_ \- water-proof/rust-proof weapon_

_ -ability to swim_

_Arrive at the lake at 11:00 am for the training exercise_

"Don't drown this time, Arina," Connor teased me, reading over my shoulder.

"Is it a swimming exercise?" I asked, "Or are we gonna go diving?"

"The lake isn't that deep, we might just be canoeing across the lake and back." Travis guessed with a shrug, "If we get ready now we could probably set up the prank after they leave."

Connor and I nodded in agreement before we all went into our cabin and grabbed our stuff.

Did you know they actually sell swimsuits in the Camp Store?

Then, we waited for the Ares cabin to leave before we snuck over, being careful of the landmines along the way.

"Hmm... what should we do first? Centaur blood in the sheets?" Connor inquired.

"Maybe centaur blood in their shampoo, they'll notice less," I suggested instead.

"Nah, I think the water might wash most of it away," Travis disagreed.

"So just in their sheets?" Travis nodded before we squirted the blood into their pillows and bedsheets, trying not to stain it too much.

"We should probably do their shirts too," I advised, "it'll be harder to see."

Travis and Connor agreed before we drenched the Ares cabin's clothes in more blood.

Afterwards, we sprayed silly string and hid firecrackers all over the place. Once we finished, we crept out and put away our leftover supplies.

"You don't think we're gonna be late, right?" I questioned them.

"Why would it-"

"Because if we get there late, they might suspect we're planning a prank," I answered quietly as we neared the lake.

Connor looked down at the lake, "We're not the last ones anyway, don't worry."

I peered down and noticed the Demeter and Hephaestus cabins were still not there.

"Hm... wonder why they're not here yet." I wondered aloud as we arrived at the lake.

I've only been to the lake once before, and that time it was the summer.

I was canoeing with Annabeth and Percy, competing to see who could get across the lake and back the fastest. Of course, Percy cheated, according to Annabeth and I. He has water powers, how else could he have got there and back in less than ten minutes?

"Welcome campers," Chiron greeted us all once we all arrived, "Let's begin the games!"


	10. Two and a half quests and a dying tree

**(A/N: Hello! There is a time skip from the last chapter to this one. I skipped ahead because nothing much happens at camp during the school year besides campers getting pranked and some holiday fun. Anyway, it's the beginning of summer now and most of the campers are returning. Also, just a reminder there will be similarities to the actual books and some line by line replications. Enjoy!)**

Summer break had finally arrived, which meant Percy and Annabeth are going to come back! Unfortunately, there was just, one small, itsy bitsy problem. Someone poisoned Thalia's tree, the thing protecting the camp from outside monsters.

Everyone believed it was Kronos' plan, then pointed blame at Chiron because he was Kronos' son. Then Argus, our one-hundred-eyed giant/security guard, got fired. Afterwards, Tantalus replaced Chiron as our activities director.

Currently, we were being attacked by two Colchis bulls, designed by Hephaestus himself. Naturally, it would attack a camp full of demigods.

"Stay in formation!" Clarisse ordered us all as we formed a phalanx.

Clarisse and I... we're on _slightly_ better terms, just slightly. I still hold a grudge against her, but she's a good fighter and is a natural leader.

"Hold the line!" Clarisse yelled.

"Watch out! Behind you!" Clarisse and I turned just in time to see a bull run towards us. We barely had enough time to bring our shields up before we were both sent flying back, sending me further back than her.

"Ugh..." I groaned.

"Jackson," Clarisse muttered angrily.

Percy appeared, grabbing Clarisse quickly before the bull ran towards her.

"Let go of me!" Clarisse spat, "Percy, damn you!"

Percy dropped her beside me, not noticing me, and ran back towards the bulls with Annabeth and a- is that a cyclops? Why are they with a cyclops?

"He is an idiot," I stated with the shake of my head while pushing myself up.

"Thought you liked him?" Clarisse inquired.

"What? Ew, no," I made gagging sounds resulting in Clarisse to laugh dryly.

I helped Clarisse up before we ran towards the second bull, easily defeating it when Clarisse impaled it. After that, we ran back towards my friends.

"You-ruin-everything!" Clarisse screamed at Percy, ripping off her helmet angrily.

"Good to see you too, Clarisse," Annabeth grumbled.

"Argh! Never, ever, try to save me again!" Clarisse yelled.

"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you got wounded campers."

That statement calmed her down. She may be tempered, but she cares about soldiers a lot.

"I'll be back," Clarisse stated before turning and heading towards some of the injured.

"Arina! How was your first year at camp?" Annabeth asked me, side hugging me because my armour covered most of my body.

"Eh, pretty good," I replied, finally noticing Percy was on the ground with a canteen.

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah, hopefully just a sprain," Percy reassured me before turning to the cyclops.

"Second question, why are you guys with a cyclops?" I inquired, turning my twin blades into rings once more.

"Cy- what?" Percy seemed confused while Annabeth just shook her head.

"Percy, have you ever looked at Tyson closely like, _really_ looked at him and ignoring the Mist?" Annabeth questioned.

Percy stared at the cyclops' eye before he appeared taken aback.

"Tyson," Percy stammered, "You're a..."

"Cyclops, he seems like a baby one to be exact," I continued.

"That's probably why he couldn't get across the boundary line as easy as the bulls," Annabeth agreed, "Tyson's one of the homeless ones."

"The what?" Gods, Annabeth was right about him having seaweed filled brain.

"They live in the big cities usually," Annabeth said, seeming to dislike the topic. "They're... _accidents_, Percy. Offsprings of some nature spirits and gods, well, usually one god. Anyway, no one wants them, they get toss onto the streets and end grow up wild. I'm not sure why- or even how he found you, but he likes you. We should take him to Chiron so he can figure out what we should do." Before I could explain Chiron was gone, Percy asked another question.

"But, the fire. How-"

"Cyclops are immune to fire, they work in the forges for the gods. They _have_ to be fire-resistant," I elaborated.

"C'mon, Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to help the wounded back to the Big House and tell Tantalus what happened." Clarisse said, returning after assessing the damages.

"Tantalus?"

"He's the new activities director," I answered, sensing Clarisse's impatience.

"What about Chiron?" Annabeth questioned, "And Argus?"

"Argus got fired, you two have been gone _too_ long, things have changed," Clarisse explained, equally hating the dismissal of our security guard and centaur.

"Chiron can't be just, _gone_, he trained heroes for over three millenniums, what happened?"

"_That _happened," I pointed towards the dying pine tree that protected our camp.

——

We walked through camp to the Big House. The camp seemed quiet and militaristic, which seemed fitting since we were being attacked constantly.

Dryads were armed with bows and arrows while satyrs and campers stockpiled weapons for any more possible battles. The only amusing thing was Tyson, the cyclops, who was asking questions about everything.

Soon, we found Chiron packing up his office as his 1960s music played in the background.

The moment Tyson saw Chiron, he froze and exclaimed, "Pony!"

"I beg your pardon?" Chiron stopped packing, turning and appearing offended.

Annabeth ran up to hug him, asking for confirmation about him being fired. As well, Percy and Annabeth were briefed on what happened.

The shock of Chiron leaving still lingered with me.

He helped me since September to develop my powers, now I can easily shadow travel without passing out because of him. He assisted me in learning more about Greek history, such as the Trojan War and the Titanomachy, which oddly enough, I didn't know about. In other words, he was like a second father for the other campers and I, helping us celebrate Christmas and not getting mad at me for sneaking out on my birthday.

On my birthday, I snuck out with Silena, Beckendorf, Miranda, and the Stoll brothers to New York and hung around there for the whole day, only getting attacked by monsters _once_. Once I returned, I discovered one of Clarisse's siblings ratted us out to Mr. D. We all were stuck with kitchen duty, but fortunately enough, Chiron wasn't that mad.

I also got a present delivered from Annabeth, which was books, and an IM from Percy wishing me a happy birthday. He was pretty disappointed when he heard I snuck out and didn't let him join us.

Anyway, Annabeth tried to stifle a sob, Chiron awkwardly patting her on the back.

"Don't worry, child, hopefully, the matter will resolve soon. Until then, I entrust your safety with Mr. D and the new activities director. Surely, they won't cause _too_ much damage as I fear." Chiron stated reassuringly.

"Who is this Tantalus guy anyway?" Percy demanded.

"You will meet him in the Dining Pavilion. For now, I will alert your mother you have arrived, she must be worried. Just heed my warning, you are in grave danger! The titan lord has not forgotten about you just yet!" Chiron warned before clopped out of his apartment.

"Pony! Don't go!" Tyson called out to him as I tried not to laugh.

In the end, Tyson ended up crying just as much as Annabeth.

Afterwards, we headed to the Dining Pavilion. Along the way, I tried my best to comfort my friend.

"Someone will find a way to heal Thalia's tree," I said, half-hugging Annabeth.

"Yeah... but why blame Chiron?" Percy inquired.

"Well, besides the fact he couldn't heal the tree, his father," I answered simply.

"Who's his father?"

"Kronos," thundered rumbled after I said the name.

"Wait, what?" Percy exclaimed.

"The titan lord is Chiron's father," Percy appeared shocked by my answer.

"Let's get in line," I suggested before breaking away from them and heading to the Hermes' line.

One by one, each cabin went into the Dining Pavilion. I quickly followed Travis and Connor towards our table and sat down. Once sitting down, I heard all the conversations die down. I looked up and saw Percy standing with Tyson in the middle of the Dining Pavilion.

Gods... this isn't going to end well.

First, Tantalus introduced himself to Percy before trying to eat food. Of course, it didn't work, much to the bemusement of Mr. D. Afterwards, Tyson was sent to sit at the head table while Percy sat beside himself at his table. Not too long after we burned our offerings to the gods and ate our dinner, Tantalus gave an announcement.

Now, they were reinstituting chariot races, the prize being no chores for an entire month. Oddly enough, Clarisse spoke against it. She pointed out the need to protect the camp and Thalia's dying tree, even more surprisingly, Tantalus complimented her on her skills in defeating the bulls.

"Also, Arina, who assisted in the defeat of those bulls." He exclaimed, "Quite skillful in battle like Clarisse,"

He hated the campers much as Mr. D did, but I have a feeling he's only being nice to me because of my dad. Hades controls his punishment of whenever he attempts to reach for a drink or food, it shrivels away. He probably doesn't want to anger my dad more than he needs too.

Later on, Tantalus made fun of Tyson, who was just too innocent to understand the taunts. Much to my anger, a large number of campers joined in the teasing, none of them being Percy's and my friends.

Shockingly enough, Tyson was also claimed by Poseidon, earning another round of laughter after Tantalus claimed he saw 'the similarities' between him and Percy. I took every once of my strength not to send him back to the Fields of Punishment. Fortunately for me, an earthquake appeared through their laughter, Tantalus giving me a nervous glance.

——

I ended up teaming up with Annabeth after she and Percy got into an argument about Tyson, also because none of the other Athena campers wanted too. Annabeth's calling Tyson a monster while Percy defended him, but I could tell he didn't enjoy having him as a half-brother anyway. A lot of the campers were teasing Percy and avoiding Tyson. The only people who didn't have a problem with the cyclops was me because I didn't really care, and Beckendorf, who's father worked with cyclopes in the forges on Olympus.

"So the axle for the chariot?" Annabeth inquired.

I knew zilch about chariots besides that they were invented by Athena and they're typically drawn by horses.

"Uh... I dunno, you know I know literally nothing about chariots," I stated.

Annabeth shook her head before continuing to scribble on our plans.

Besides working on the chariot, well, spectating and building it according to Annabeth, camp life was pretty dull. I had average classes with the other campers, but I wanted to use my powers, so I reserved that for the rock climbing wall.

The rock climbing spewed lava and had earthquake settings, but no one could tell if I was creating the earthquake or the wall. Ha, it was fun to mess with Percy with that.

"How'd you managed to get to the top so quickly?"

"Heh, dunno, but you weren't too bad either,"

"It's like the earthquakes were avoiding you the whole time!" Percy exclaimed.

I gave him an odd look before shaking my head.

"Percy, that makes zero sense. How can earthquakes _avoid_ me?" I inquired, trying to hide my amusement, "I think you're just a bit jealous."

"Did you set it like this as revenge for the canoe races we had?" Percy questioned as we walked by to the main part of the camp.

"How would I be able to do that? And how could I be sure you wouldn't follow the same track as me?" I asked.

Percy looked stump before looking annoyed when a group of bothersome Aphrodite campers came by.

"You need some eyeliner for your eye- oh I mean, _eyes_," they all giggled while I sent them a threatening look.

They scurried away after.

"Ugh... I feel like my dad's playing a joke on me," Percy groaned, irritated.

"You have a sibling, what's so bad about that?" I inquired.

"Yeah, just wish he wasn't a cyclops though, tons of people are making fun of him and me," Percy grumbled, crossing his arms in frustration.

"Sounds like you're embarrassed to be around him,"

"I'm not..." he denied.

"Uh-huh," I nodded, not believing him.

"You also seem kinda distracted, are you okay?" I asked.

Lately, I've noticed him seeming preoccupied with other affairs. Usually, I see this happen in the morning, but I thought it might be because some kids were teasing him and his brother.

"Um... yeah, I have been distracted by something else," Percy admitted.

Then I got an idea to help Percy and Annabeth make up.

"What is it?" I questioned.

Percy explained he had been having dreams about Grover being trapped somewhere, hearing him say something about 'he likes sheep'.

"Hm... maybe ask Annabeth? She might have an idea," I suggested.

Percy gave me a look before shaking his head.

"She'll think I'm crazy,"

——

"He's just trying to distract us," Annabeth said after talking to Percy on the day of the chariot races.

According to Percy, Grover was trapped in a place called the 'Sea of Monsters' around Florida. He was being held captive by a cyclops named Polyphemus, who I recognized as the cyclops Odysseus partially blinded in the Odyssey. Quite a famous tale, according to Chiron. Oddly enough, that Barnacle Boy didn't know who he was was.

"But what if he's right?"

"Then we'll worry about it later, just make sure to block all incoming attacks from the other racers," Annabeth stated.

We got in line with the other racers, preparing to begin the race. However, I noticed odd-looking pigeons lining the edges of the forests. No one seemed to be saying anything, so I ignored them.

Once Tantalus went over how the game will work, he waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The race had begun.

The first team out of the race was the Apollo team, whose chariot flipped over. Then, their empty chariot drove into the Hermes' chariot, knocking the Stoll brothers out of it.

We easily pulled ahead to the front, Annabeth yelling, "See ya!" to Percy once we passed him and Tyson.

The race was surprisingly easy at first, well, until the birds attacked.

Turns out, those pigeons were Stymphilian birds, carnivorous birds hungry for demigod flesh. They immediately started attacking the spectators in the stand before aiming for the chariots. Beckendorf's chariot veered off course and plowed straight through the strawberry fields while Clarisse's chariot was covered by a camouflaged netting.

"Stymphilian birds, they'll tear everyone to their bare flesh if we don't drive them away," Annabeth said, slowing down so Percy's team could catch up.

"Tyson," Percy ordered, "we're turning around,"

Tyson looked confused and said something in reply, but I couldn't hear because of the screams of my fellow campers.

Then, we drove straight for the stands, Percy and I summoning our weapons and blindly slashing at the birds.

"How do we defeat these guys?" Percy yelled.

"Hercules used brass bells, we need to find something loud and repulsive to drive away the birds!" I replied.

"Percy... Chiron's collection!" Annabeth's eyes widened before she and Percy drove a chariot towards the Big House while Tyson and I stayed to fight.

"You're _running?_ Cowards!" Clarisse cried out after she crossed the finishing line.

"They have an idea of how to stop the birds!" I yelled back at her, dodging a bird trying to grab my hair.

Soon, they returned carrying a boombox, blasting one of Chiron's songs that sounded like Italian men moaning and violins. This, scared the birds.

The birds flew straight in the air before Annabeth ordered the Apollo cabin to fire, killing a vast majority of them while the remaining few flew away into the horizon.

Of course, Tantalus found a way to blame Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson for their 'bad driving' which attracted the birds. Now, they were stuck on kitchen duty while the rest of us had a feast for Clarisse's victory, which included country-fried Stymphilian birds.

——

Later that night, at the campfire, Annabeth and Percy proposed a quest to save Thalia's tree, and subsequently, the camp. Percy explained his dreams about Grover being captured and being held by Polyphemus in the Sea of Monsters while Annabeth backed up the fact of how the Golden Fleece could save the camp. However, Tantalus said we didn't need a quest. That led to the whole camp challenging his choice.

Afterwards, Tantalus issued a quest, and hand-selected Clarisse, a handful of us arguing about his choice. He quickly silenced us.

"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story!"

A felt a dark aura radiate off Tantalus, strong as the ones I felt when fighting monsters.

"Once upon a time, there was a mortal who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest. I knew he was talking about himself.

Tantalus began telling everyone the story of how he sneaked revenge against the gods for denying him ambrosia and nectar. He didn't directly say it, but it was implied he killed his children and tried feeding them to the gods.

"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus said. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumour has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful and rebellious children. And so... are there any more complaints before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

Everyone sat in silence.

"Go on, the Oracle,"

Clarisse seemed uncomfortable, appearing not to enjoy his attention much anymore. "Sir-"

"Go!" Clarisse bowed awkwardly before running off to the Big House.

"What about you, Percy Jackson? Any words from our dishwasher?" Tantalus inquired.

Percy sat there, keeping his mouth shut.

"Good," Tantalus said. "And a reminder to all; no one leaves camp without my permission. Anyone who tries to break this rule... if they survive, they will we be expelled, but that won't happen. Harpies will be enforcing the curfew, and they're always hungry. Goodnight, my campers! Sleep well."

With that, the fire was extinguished and we were off to bed. However, I could tell something was going to happen. Once in my cabin, I waited for everyone else to fall asleep before sneaking out, seeing Percy do the same thing and heading to the beach.

"Y'know," Percy jumped, nearly spitting out his Coke. "you're not supposed to be out after dark."

"Why, thank you for that heart attack, Arina," Percy replied sarcastically as I plopped myself down beside him.

"Can I have one?" I motioned towards the six-pack of Coca-Cola.

"Sure," Percy handed me one before I cracked it open.

"Something about a Coke from a can taste better than the magical ones from the goblets," I commented, taking a sip.

"Yeah, I agree," Percy nodded, taking another gulp.

Later on, a jogger came by, scaring Percy and I. As the jogger talked to us, I had an odd feeling as if I've met him before.

"Um... who are you exactly?" Percy inquired as I tried to figure out who this man with two talking snakes in a phone was.

"Haven't you guessed by now?"

_Can we show him?_ Martha, one of the two snakes, pleaded.

_Don't listen to her! She just wants to show off! _George, the other snake, argued.

The man took out his phone, "Original form, please."

The phone glowed before turning into a long staff with doves on the top, the two snakes slithering around it. The same staff in front of my temporary cabin, the Hermes cabin.

"You're Hermes," I gasped while Percy said, "You're Luke's father."

Hermes tried talking us into doing the quest, telling us about how he stole Apollo's cattle when he was a baby. Afterwards, he handed Percy two packages, multivitamins and a thermos with the four winds inside.

"You want us to go the quest?" I questioned.

"Well, Percy, Annabeth, and his brother, but not you," Hermes admitted.

"What? Why?" Why did he even bother telling me if I wasn't going to go?

"I have another quest for you from... _someone_ else," he stated.

"What?"

"Head to the Big House and talk to Tantalus, tell him I sent you," Hermes explained cryptically.

I stood up, feeling left out while my best friends go on a quest to save the camp and Grover. Of course, I miss all the action.

"Well, good luck on your unauthorized quest," I stated before waving goodbye to Percy.

He waved awkwardly in reply before Hermes continued talking to him.

Once I was far enough away so they couldn't see me, I shadow travelled to the entrance of the Big House, scaring a satyr.

"Eek!"

"Where's Tantalus?" I asked.

The satyr pointed a shaky hand towards a closed-door before running outside, tripping over the steps.

"You better not tell anyone!" I called out to the frightened satyr before opening the door.

"How about only fruits?" I heard Tantalus bargain.

"Your punishment is to be deprived of food and drinks eternally, you tricked the gods, you deserve nothing more." A stern voice stated.

"But-"

"Um, hi?" I interrupted their argument.

Tantalus turned and stared at me, giving me a clear view of the IM he was having with a certain god.

"Hello, daughter, I have a quest for you," Hades, my dad, said.


	11. Fake doctors suck

**(A/N: I'm going to be changing some stuff to fit into this story that I thought of when reading another fanfic on called 'The First Son of Artemis' by domgk115. Anyway, enjoy!)**

"I have a quest for you," my father said as I stood in the doorway of Tantalus' office.

"What is it?" _Did Hermes know this? Is that why he won't let me go on the quest to hijack Clarisse's?_

"I will tell you, once your activities director leaves," my father stated, staring at Tantalus who yelped in fear before running out of the office.

Once he was gone, I closed the door firmly behind him.

"So, what is it then, _father_," the word still felt unfamiliar on my tongue. The closest thing I had to a father figure was Chiron, but I guess he's technically my uncle. Or cousin... actually, I'm not going to question my ancestry.

"I need you to retrieve two demigods from Maine," he explained.

"Two demigods? What's so special about them that you can't-"

"They're your siblings,"

Wait... WHAT?

I stared at my father in complete and utter shock, what did he mean by _my _siblings? I get their my siblings but like, what the Hades?

Yes, I _still_ use my father's name as a swear, long as he doesn't know, it's good.

"What do you mean? You broke your oath _thrice_?" I exclaimed in shock.

"No, I only broke my oath once, and that was when you were born. Your siblings were born _before_ I made the oath,"

Okay, now I'm even _more_ confused now.

"How-"

My father rubbed his temples, grumbling something about 'Jackson' before saying, "You recall the Lotus Casino you stayed at last summer?"

My eyes widened in realization. Percy met someone from the 70s in the casino who looked like they were the same age us, which meant the casino had some sort of ability to keep people for years without them ageing or realizing what was happening.

I might hate that place, but you got to give it some props for being able to do that. The Mist is probably incredibly strong for that to work on demigods and humans alike.

"Why are they in Maine?" I inquired, accepting the fact my siblings are probably like fifty years older than me because the oath was made during the last world war.

"I didn't expect you to go to Camp Half-Blood because monsters were never attracted to you, I thought just maybe, you didn't inherit any of my powers, of course, that was proven wrong.

"Secondly, I don't want that stupid Jackson being the child of the prophecy, and one of your siblings is several months older than you and Jackson, meaning she could-"

"Wait," I paused, "sorry for the interruption, father, but, what prophecy are you referring too?" I questioned.

My father stared at me before shaking his head. "I will tell you and your siblings once you arrive here. I need you to go to Bar Harbour in Maine to retrieve them but beware, I have a feeling monsters would be more attracted to their scent than yours, much like Jackson." My father warned me before the Iris Message faded.

I stared at the wall where the message was, trying to figure out my first move and if I should go to the Oracle or not. I guess it wasn't _that_ big of a quest, and it was more of a mission in comparison. I'm just getting my siblings, nothing big, right?

——

The next morning, I prepared for my quest.

Lots of rumours came around after the disappearance of Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson last night, and I was questioned several times as well. I just stated the obvious, I won't talk about my friends without their knowledge.

"They probably just went to the Sea of Monsters to find the fleece before Clarisse does," Travis stated with a shrug to some curious unclaimed campers in our cabin.

I replied with nothing as I shoved my Waterland shirt/hoodie into my backpack before throwing in a bag of drachmas and some essentials.

"Arina," Connor looked at my bag, confused, "are you leaving camp too?"

"Uh... technically," I answered cryptically.

I can't exactly say I was given a quest by my father to look for my two siblings who smelled like a million bucks to monsters.

"Apparently a lot of people were warned to not come back this year by Chiron because of what happened with Thalia's tree," Travis pointed-out.

"I'm going to come back, don't worry, you haven't lost your second partner-in-crime." I joked with a smirk. "I've been sent to retrieve two demigods by um... one of the Olympians."

The Stoll brothers looked at each other before shrugging, "Well, have fun and don't get killed."

"Yeah, I'll try not to," I replied before grabbing my bag and exiting the cabin.

Once outside, I headed straight for Half-Blood Hill. I knew there was a bus stop I could take from there so I wouldn't have to shadow travel too far. I am getting good at it, but travelling that far will exhaust me.

"Where are you going, Abigail?" I turned around and saw Mr. D sitting on the porch while Tantalus tries to grab a bag of pretzels.

"I've been given a quest to retrieve two demigods," I answered, continuing to walk towards the border of the camp.

I saw Mr. D say something to Tantalus, Tantalus nodding in confirmation most likely as he struggled to get the pretzels.

I waved at the dryads guarding the borders before walking through and heading towards the bus station.

I had some leftover money I got from my last quest and my birthday, hopefully enough to get me to Massachusetts. From there, I would try shadow travelling or using the Mist to get me to Maine.

First, I managed to get onto a bus to Massachusetts, which was surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, my scent is too attractive.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Thorn," an older looking man said, standing as if he had a broomstick held against his spine.

"Um... hi," I replied awkwardly as I got off the bus in Salisbury.

I could tell the moment I met this man that something was up with him. For starters, he had multi-coloured eyes, one moving around a bit while the other focussed solely on me. Secondly, he reeked of monster stench, like, _really_ bad.

"Do you need help?" Dr. Thorn asked, having a somewhat French accent or something along those lines.

"I'm fine, thank you," I wanted to avoid a fight at all costs. Last time demigods fought monsters in public, they ended up on the news for being criminals or junk.

I started walking quickly to the next bus stop to get to Bar Harbour. Much to my displeasure, he persisted in following me as I struggled to figure out what kind of monster he was.

"Where are you headed by yourself, little girl?" Okay, now it's just getting borderline creepy.

"Um, _sir_, can you please leave me alone?" I inquired, walking faster to the bus stop before being grabbed from behind and thrown into an alley.

"Oh, but your attendance is required elsewhere." He stated with a smirk before something black was thrown dangerously close to my head.

I looked at the item and my eyes widened in realization.

"Y-y-you're the manticore!" I exclaimed in shock.

"You're a very smart demigod," he complimented with a devilish grin.

I quickly summoned my twin blades and managed to slice another thorn fired at me. _Dr. Thorn, that's totally unique_, I thought sarcastically before shadow travelling to the bus stop.

At first, I scared a couple of mortals, but after manipulating the Mist a bit, they forgot as I boarded the bus to Maine.

On the bus ride, I chose to sit relatively close to the front, just in case I needed to make a quick getaway and so I could easily see everyone who boarded the bus.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" I looked up from a book on my lap to see a familiar-looking boy around my age standing in the aisle.

"Um, no, go ahead," I moved my bag onto the ground and shuffled over before he slid in.

He tilted his head to the side and gave me a quizzical look, "Have we met before?"

"Uh, maybe?" I shrugged.

"I'm Leo Valdez by the way," once he said his name, I remembered where I've seen him before.

"Oh, you went to the same school as me last year!" I exclaimed.

Leo's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh yeah, what happened to you? When I asked the teacher about you she said you were taken out of the class for some reason."

I paused, trying to think of a convincing coverup story to being attacked by empousai and saved by a goddess and her immortal huntresses.

"Yeah, I transferred because my mom got a job somewhere else," I lied.

"Oh, well, the class was pretty boring in my opinion," Leo shrugged.

"Why are you here anyway?" I questioned, wanting to strike up a small conversation with the guy I had a crush on a year ago.

When I first met Leo a year ago, I thought he was funny and smart. He actually managed to build this kidney monster out of skeleton legs and this fake kidney from the nurse's office, which gave her a minor heart attack. Honestly, I find that cute and clever.

"Um..." he glanced around before leaning closer and whispering, "I ran away again from my foster home."

"Oh..." now I just feel like I invaded his personal life.

"What about you?"

"Um..." for one, I can't say I'm retrieving my demigod siblings for my father to prevent my best friend from becoming apart of a prophecy that I don't even know yet. However, this is easier to abbreviate than my other story.

"I'm meeting up with my half-siblings,"

"Ooh, cool, having half-siblings seems so cool!" Leo exclaimed with a grin.

"Haha, I guess it depends if you like them or not. My friend has a half-sibling he doesn't like that much," I admitted with a laugh.

"I'm an only child so that sounds awesome!"

"Eh, I did have a brother," I stated.

"You do?"

"I _did_," now Leo looked uncomfortable.

"Uh, sorry," he apologized sheepishly.

"It's fine, it was years ago," I shrugged off his apology.

Honestly, I'm mostly fine with it, but I blame my mother for it. My brother didn't have school that day and he stayed home, but when I got back home from my school, my high mother told me he went missing. Of course, I contacted the police but they didn't believe my mother's story about how he went outside and never came back because of her numerous DUIs and the fact she wasn't close to being sober at all.

Leo and I continued talking lividly, catching up on what happened in the past year and anything of interest. Obviously, I didn't outright say I was at a secret camp for demigods, but I found a way around it.

"I wish I went to your school, it sounds way better than the ones I go to," Leo complained, leaning back in his seat while fiddling with a piece of paper in his hands.

"Heh, well, you need a parental request to get in," I said.

"Well, I don't have parents, guess that means I'm not getting in," Leo sighed with the shake of his head.

Our conversation mostly danced around the fact neither one of us had a stable or a relationship in general with our parents.

I was about to say something to change the subject, but the bus lolled to a stop and everyone started getting off.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," I stated before waving goodbye to Leo after we got off the bus.

"Yeah, good luck finding your siblings," Leo replied, turning away and walking the opposite direction down the street.

At that moment, I realized my father never explicitly told me where to find my siblings, he just told me to get them from Bar Harbour.

Just a couple problems with that: I don't know what they look like or even their names, I don't know where to find them, and monsters could be chasing them any second now.

Oh Styx, I'm really stupid.


	12. Our father isn't that great, sorry kid

**Enjoy!**

I walked down the street, looking for any trances of monsters. For once in my life, I didn't find any monsters.

_I wonder why my scent is weaker than my siblings and Percy despite all four of us being children of the Big Three_, I thought before a came across a water fountain.

_ I__ could Iris-Message my father about who they are!_ I realized before running towards the fountain, turning it on and throwing a drachma inside.

"_Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering,_" I whispered as the water shimmered. "Show me Hades in the Underworld," I added.

The mist glistened before showing me my father sitting on his throne. He was talking to Persephone urgently while a lady in the back with blonde hair stood, seeming ready to ridicule every single thing in the room.

"Uh, father?" All three turned at stared at me through the message, making me suddenly self-conscious.

"What is it, Arina?" the blonde lady eyed me carefully, making me even more uncomfortable about talking to a fountain in a park with mortals.

"Um... you never told me my siblings' names or what they looked like," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Ah... right," my father sat there thinking for a moment before the blonde women cut in.

"Persephone, I warned you about Hades, but what do you do instead? You eat the pomegranate and end up here! I told you he'll have affairs like his brothers, but did you listen?" The woman exclaimed, annoying Persephone.

"Mother, it's not like you should talk either, how many demigod children have you had in the past century?" Persephone bit back spitefully.

_I thought Persephone didn't go to the Underworld during the summer. I remember hearing that she stayed above with her mother-_

I bowed my head quickly, embarrassed at not realizing who the goddess that was nagging Persephone was, "Lady Demeter, I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you at first." Demeter seemed taken aback by the fact I recognized her, more so by the fact I did a bow, which earned me a few odd looks from people passing by.

"Here is a picture of them, they're names are Nico and Bianca di Angelo," my father waved his hand and an image of two kids showed up. There was an older girl who had black hair and eyes, possibly my age, and a boy a fair bit younger than us, having the same hair as his sister but lighter eyes.

"Thank you, father," I waved by hand through the image and released my hold on the button for the water.

Afterwards, I began walking around, looking for my half-siblings with obvious trouble. _At this rate, I'll probably find them by-_ I stopped when I heard two children bickering. I walked towards the noise and found the two arguing in front of a comic store._ Well, that was easier than expected_, I thought before causally walking up to them.

Now, how do I tell them I'm their sister and our father's a god without sounding like a weirdo?

"Um, excuse me, are you two Nico and Bianca di Angelo?" I inquired, interrupting their fierce argument. The only thing I heard was something about spending money on something called a 'Mythomagic' card, but I could've heard wrong.

"Uh..." Bianca, I presumed, appeared wary at first, but her brother was so full of energy and replied.

"Yes! Can you tell my sister that spending money on the Hades' figurine is NOT a waste of money?" The boy questioned, glaring up at his sister who was taller than him.

"Um, I have no opinion on that, she's your older sister," I replied nervously.

"How do you know who we are?" Bianca asked suspiciously.

"Okay, so this is gonna sound really bizarre, but I'm your half-sister and our dad sent me to find you two." _Hm... not actually that bad._

Bianca still looked apprehensive, but her brother seemed to believe me.

"Ooh, really? Where is he?"

"Uh, Nico, we can't be sure she's telling the truth,"

"She's the same age as you! You trusted that lawyer even though they were an adult!" Nico argued.

"I don't have any proof, sorry, but I _am_ telling the truth," I stated, trying to appear as truthful as possible.

Bianca remained uncertain, but she couldn't argue against me, so she decided to follow me with her brother.

_Wait... do I have to shadow travel across America for them to meet my dad?_ _I should have thought this through more thoroughly_, I realized.

"Where is our dad?" she inquired as we walked aimlessly around as I figured out a mode of transportation.

"Um... he's in LA right now," I said with zero confidence.

"How did you get here then?" She raised her eyebrows in suspicion.

"I was at a summer camp in New York," I answered honestly. What? Camp Half-Blood _is_ a summer camp of sorts.

"How are we going to meet 'our' dad then?" Bianca found a flaw in my plan already, ready to exploit it.

"I have two ideas, one of them is quite unorthodox, while the other one is just a bus ride across the states," I admitted.

Shadow travelling is easier, but it sounds so exhausting at the same time. Busing seems simpler, but it exposes us to monsters and takes quite a while. Fortunately, for once, luck was on my side because a certain creature showed up.

"Hey! You're the lawyer from the hotel!" Nico exclaimed when a 'woman' walked around the corner.

_One of the Furies! That's most be how my father took them out of the casino!_ I realized the moment I saw 'her'.

"Yes, and your father has sent me here to help you meet him in Los Angeles," the Fury explained before glancing at me.

"Is it what I think it is?" I guessed.

"Yes,"

——

I collapsed onto the floor in my father's palace, a bit disoriented and slightly out of breath. _I hate it when he does that._

"W-what was that?" I heard Bianca ask as I shook the ringing out of my ears.

"I'll let our dad explain that," I shadow travelled out of the throne room to my own room.

Around Christmas time, my father let me stay down in the Underworld with him and Persephone. At that time, I was given my own room in his palace, which was pretty cool looking.

My room had a regular four-poster bed with monochromatic purple curtains and a simple black bean bag chair beside it. Also, I had a bookshelf filled with some astronomy books and photography junk, like extra film or spare lenses. Besides that, my room was bare except for the window overlooking Elysium and an empty closet. I usually don't stay often, so I don't leave clothes in my closet. Well, it's not like I owned much.

I untied my combat boots and fell backwards onto my bed, immediately beginning to sink into the bed.

I let my dad explain to my siblings what was happening on his own because I didn't want to explain how everything worked and junk. I sorta wished we had the camp orientation video on hand so it'll be less explaining. I never actually watched the video, but I heard it covers all the bases pretty well.

"_Knock, knock,"_ I heard, turning towards the door.

"Come in?" _Who would knock? Maybe one of my siblings-_

"Good afternoon, Arina," I went into a bow the moment I saw the goddess of spring.

"Thank you, but there is no need for formalities," she waved her hand dismissively.

"Um... Lady Persephone, if you don't mind me asking, but why are you here? I thought you only come during the winter and fall?" I inquired curiously.

"Ah... my mother and I had a minor, _family spat_ about me coming here, she even threatened to cause crop failure in California if I didn't return home!" The goddess shook her head, seeming annoyed, "Anyway, I am here because I was interested in teaching you a special... _trick_ that may be useful in the future," she elaborated.

"Uh... what kind of trick?"

"Have you heard the story of Eros and Psyche?"

"Um... maybe?"

Persephone shook her head, mumbling about the 'modern school system' and how 'illiterate' the teachers were. "Come along," she walked out of my room swiftly.

I followed the Queen of the Underworld obediently, having little other choices. _It's not like I was doing anything important,_ I thought.

Persephone led me to her garden and sat down underneath one of her pomegranate trees, patting the seat beside her for me.

"Well, there once was a mortal girl named Psyche who's beauty said to have rivalled Aphrodite, which angered my sister. She made Eros kill her, but he was as well, entranced by her beauty and took her away to a secret palace without her knowledge. Psyche never saw Eros' face, for he only came at night to their bed. One day, she grew lonely and asked Zephyros, a servant to Eros, to let her see her family. However, he said wasn't able to. She tried pleading with the love god, and he eventually let her sisters come and stay with them.

"Unfortunately, her sisters were jealous of Psyche's beauty and claimed that her lover was actually a horrible monster. That night after they told her this, she tried killing Eros because she thought he was a monster. Yet, when she held a candle up to his face, it revealed the god. Feeling despair at her betrayal, he fled back to his mother.

"Psyche felt terrible and therefore seeking help from the gods. She at first helped my mother and Hera, but they said it was beyond the control. She eventually sought Aphrodite's help; the goddess forcing her to do several trials to win back her son's affection and trust." My step-mother began explaining all the trials Psyche faced, receiving help from the gods along the way as well.

"The last task was to retrieve beauty cream from me. She went down to the Underworld and asked me for it. I told her not to open the box, for it contained Stygian sleep, the essences of the Underworld. I was using it as revenge against Aphrodite for... past issues. Regrettably, Psyche opened the box herself, nearly dying herself. Fortunately, Eros came and brought her forth to the Olympians, asking for their help. They granted her immortality; turning her into the goddess of the human soul." Persephone finished, amazing me by her story.

I couldn't believe a mortal, one that had no divine blood flowing through their veins previously, managed to endure all that suffering just for their love. Psyche could have left, abandoned the quest, but she chose to continue just because of her love.

"That was a great story," I began, "but what does that have to relate with the 'trick'?"

"Well, I filled a box with Stygian sleep, and I believe you can also control this ability as well, being a demigod child of my husband." Persephone elaborated, doing this odd gesture before filling a small bottle I realized she was wearing with an odd dark gas.

"Woah... I could do that?" I gasped.

"Yes, but with proper training, of course," she added quickly. "If performed incorrectly, it could harm you more than your enemy."

"But, how would this work on monsters? Aren't monsters from the Underworld, that means this would empower them, right?"

"Not all monsters are from here, and your power over the monsters here would suffice. I meant the monsters down in the _Pit_," she whispered the last part, glancing around.

The Pit, aka, Tartarus, the birthplace of all monsters. The thought of facing monsters from down there petrified me, but I felt somewhat confident that I could handle myself.

"So, how do you do this?" I questioned after a lengthy silence.

——

"Our dad is so cool! He's even powerful than my Mythomagic version of him!" Nico exclaimed as I gave him and his sister a tour of the palace.

"Eh, our father isn't that great, he's pretty distant at times, but all gods are like that to their children," I stated with a shrug.

"I still can't believe we're demigods!" Bianca exclaimed.

"It gets weirder the longer you're one," I stated.

Bianca nodded as I showed them Persephone's garden, "Don't eat anything in there unless you want to become a permanent resident of the Underworld."

"Noted," she said as we passed by a window that overlooked the Fields of Punishment. "Yeah, no," she quickly covered Nico's eyes and pushed him forward, making me laugh.

"You should loosen the reins a bit, sis," I joked.

"He's my _only_ brother, and he's too young to witness that," Bianca argued.

"Heh, at least he didn't watch the camp orientation video," I laughed, "it's rated PG13."

"Ooh! I wanna-"

"No,"

"Anyway, you guys want to go to Camp Half-Blood after we finish here?" I asked, "Or do you wanna visit any other places?"

"Um... I'm not sure..." Bianca seemed conflicted about something.

"You okay?"

"Well, Lady Persephone told me about this group of girls my age I could join if I didn't want to be involved with the prophecy, but dad wants me to be the kid." Bianca elaborated nervously.

"Oh yeah, what _is _this prophecy I keep on hearing about?" I inquired.

Bianca paled, "Uh-uh, yo-you don't want to k-know."

"Well, if you _truly_ want to join the hunters, I can contact Lady Artemis. I'll ask if she can meet up with us along the way to New York," I suggested softly, noticing how worried she seemed about the whole predicament.

"Really? Thanks... but Nico..."

"Hey! I'm still here! I'm fine on my own but- do you have to go?" Nico pleaded with his older sister.

"Well, maybe I can go to the camp and see what's it likes before deciding," she said, trying to please her brother.

"Oh yeah, if you guys go to Camp Half-Blood- _don't_ tell anyone we're children on Hades, only the camp director, activities director, and the gods know of our parentage. It could cause major issues at camp," I explained to them.

"How does the camp work anyway? Is it just a summer camp, or yearlong?"

"Well, it depends on if you want to or not. One of my friends offered for me to stay with him during the school year, but I still needed to learn my powers so I couldn't." I stated as we rounded back to my room so I could call Artemis.

Once in my room, Nico jumped on my bed, earning a scolding from Bianca and a laugh from myself.

"_Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering and contact Lady Artemis in the Hunt,_" I prayed before throwing a drachma into the water.

The fountain shimmered before showing a group of young girls in silver parkas sitting around a fire.

"Uh, Lady Artemis!" I called out, causing all the girls to stare back at me.

"Arina!" my friends in the Hunt shouted.

"Yes, Arina?" Artemis replied.

"Um... my sister is interested in joining the Hunt," I grabbed Bianca and brought her into the viewpoint of the call.

"Uh, hi?"

"Thou wish to join the Hunters of Artemis?" Zoë questioned, her tiara twinkling by the fireside.

"Yes, I think so, but I might want to come to Camp Half-"

"Pfft, that camp's filled with rotten _boys _and beauty-obsessed girls, no offence, Arina," Hunter spat.

Bianca seemed uncomfortable, but I chose to speak for her.

"Well, where is the Hunt right now?"

"We're near San Fransico, why?" Phoebe questioned.

"Well, we're in LA right now, if you don't mind, could you help us get to the camp? Maybe along the way, Bianca could decide what she wants?" I suggested as an alternative of them all arguing.

"That is a good idea, Arina," Artemis nodded in agreement.

"Guess'll we see you then, Lady Artemis," I did a small bow before waving my hand through the message.

"Woah! What was that?" Nico asked, ceasing with the jumping.

"Did our dad teach you guys _anything_ at all?"

——

After we met up with the hunters, the trip to Camp Half-Blood was short and easy. Well, despite the fact every hunter was staring daggers at Nico the whole time because he was a boy. Another thing I found out while with the Hunt: none of them knew of my father's identity.

"Men are scumbags, my own father didn't claim me!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Well, your dad is Apollo," Hunter pointed-out.

"Fair point,"

Bianca seemed to be getting along great with the rest of the Hunt, even Artemis herself was teaching her how to use a bow while I privately trained Nico with his powers.

Soon, we arrived at Camp Half-Blood and Bianca made her decision of joining the Hunt, forswearing all company with men.

"Arina! You're back!" Percy exclaimed, seeming distracted after I introduced my siblings to Chiron, who was rehired after Percy revealed to the whole camp Luke poisoned the tree. Of course, this is all secondhand information because apparently, I was in the Underworld and walking across the country for about week.

"Yeah, and turns out I got a brother," I gestured towards Nico, who stared at Percy in awe.

"Woah! You're the son of Poseidon!" Nico exclaimed, seeming overjoyed to meet another male demigod after being harassed by females for the past few days.

"How did you know that? Also, did you find out who your dad was?" Percy asked, appearing interested.

"Um... no, but I received a mysterious Iris-Message that I had two siblings, Nico here, and Bianca, who joined the Hunters of Artemis." I elaborated somewhat truthfully.

"Oh cool," he nodded along.

"So, anything big I missed besides Luke revealing stuff and Tantalus being sent back down to the Underworld?" I inquired.

"Um... yeah, just one thing, but it's better if I show you rather than explain," Percy stated nervously before motioning me to follow him towards the Big House.

I walked with him and my brother, he was amazed by everything we saw, frequently asking questions about the camp.

"What happens if it rains?"

"Well, we still have to eat, don't we?"

We walked all the way to the front porch, encountering Chiron and Mr. D playing pinochle together while talking casually.

"Oh, Adele's back with Peter, seems like they got another demigod too," Mr. D grumbled.

"That's Mr. D, aka Dionysus," I explained to my brother.

"You're the wine dude!" Nico exclaimed excitedly.

Mr. D sneered at my brother, preparing to retort something when Nico said, "I've got your figurine!"

"Figurine," Mr. D seemed perplexed.

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! Even though you've only got like five thousand attack points and everyone thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think you're powers are sweet!" My younger brother said eagerly.

"Ah... well, that's gratifying,"

"Anyway, what's the new 'development'?" I questioned.

"Um... well-"

"Hey, I'm Thalia," a girl dressed in punk clothes appeared leaning against the door frame of the Big House.


	13. I STILL hate doctors

** (A/N: There's a time skip to around Christmas time for the Titan's Curse arc; enjoy!)**

"Thanks for the ride, Ms. Jackson," I thanked Percy's mom before sliding into the middle seat of her car.

Grover sent out an urgent message that he uncovered a demigod in Maine so Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and I all decided to go up and help.

"No problem, Arina," she replied as Annabeth and Percy got in.

"Why does Thalia get to sit in the front?" Percy inquired, seeming a bit annoyed.

"Well, technically she's older than all three of us," Annabeth reminded him.

In the summer, after the Golden Fleece healed Thalia's tree, it somehow managed to bring her back to life as well. I could tell it was bad because my father IM me about asking how old I was, which was a bit odd. I think it's a part of the prophecy that Bianca was supposed to be part of.

I tried asking Chiron about it, but he said I'm not ready for it. I even asked Percy, because it seemed to involve him as well, but he was just as clueless as I was.

During the car ride to Maine, we all were silent, besides Percy's mom, who told us every embarrassing baby story about Percy she could recall. Percy's mom is the BEST!

"Oh, this is gonna be _so_ fun," Thalia grumbled as we pulled up to the private school Grover told us to meet up at.

Westover Hall was a towering military school situated in an old castle, adding to the creepy effect. It was even overlooking a cliff over the ocean, which I find a possibly safety hazard considering there were no fences or railings anywhere.

"Thanks, Mom, you don't have to wait," Percy stated as we slipped out of the car. Seriously, I nearly slipped on the icy pavement.

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy," seeing his mom care for him so much made me uncomfortable.

My mother is well... my mother. She's never there when you need her, and when she is there, she's completely stoned.

"It's fine, Ms. Jackson, we'll keep him out of trouble," Annabeth reassured her quickly.

Hearing Annabeth say it appeared to convince her before she waved goodbye and drove away. Once she was gone, I turned and saw Percy and Thalia talking.

"C'mon, let's head in before Grover stress eats anymore," I stated before leading the others up to the school.

When we opened the doors, I began hearing faint music as the snow started falling into the school. We all stepped in quickly and shut the doors with an eery thud.

"Wait, Annabeth, pass me your Yankees' cap," I ordered her when I was hit by a familiar scent. She seemed confused, but obliged and passed me the cap.

I slipped it on just as two teachers came by, one of them I recognized immediately as Dr. Thorn from the last time I was in Maine.

The teachers seemed skeptical, but once Thalia messed with the Mist, the mortal of the two accepted the fact my friends were students and ordered us back to the gym.

"Arina, why are you-"

"I've met Dr. Thorn before, he's a manticore who attacked me in the summer," I explained quietly before passing Annabeth her cap.

"What are we suppose to be doing here?" Percy asked before a familiar looking satyr ran up to us.

"You guys made it!" Grover exclaimed.

"Who's the demigod?" I questioned, wanting to get as far away from that manticore as possible.

"Her name's Eliza Farriman, I'm not sure who's her parent is yet, but I never caught this scent before. It's _really _different compared to other demigods," Grover explained nervously.

"'Kay, let's find her before Dr. Thorn decides to drop in," Thalia stated before pushing open the doors to the gym.

The gym was filled with kids around our age dancing around. There was a small group of kids playing basketball, another group of girls kissing any boy they come across, regular people dancing, and a couple of loners.

"She's over there," he pointed to a girl in a black dress standing beside an older looking guy, _way_ older than all of us.

"Who's that guy she's with?"

"Um, her boyfriend?" The rest of us looked at Grover incredulously.

"He looks like he's twenty, not fourteen!" I pointed-out.

"He's actually eighteen, but yeah, he's a lot older than her," Grover admitted uncomfortably.

"Let's not focus on that, let's just try to blend in and sneak over there. We don't wanna draw too much attention to ourselves." Thalia said before grabbing Grover and pulling him onto the dance floor.

Then, it was just us three.

"Uh, designed any new buildings lately?" Percy asked awkwardly as Annabeth untied her hair.

"Yes," she went on a tangent about her new school and the architecture classes she was taking.

I silently slipped away, using the Mist to make it look like I was wearing semi-formal clothes to blend in more.

"I can't believe you cheated on me with her! You're a goddamn liar!" I heard someone yell. I turned and saw Eliza yell at her boyfriend before slapping him.

"Hey!" He grabbed her by the wrist and punched her in the face right after, leaving her slightly dazed.

I felt my blood boil after I witnessed their altercation. _Why did he punch her? That was so out of line!_ I thought angerly as I shadow travelled to a couple of bleachers near them.

"What the fuck!" She exclaimed, seeming close to tears now.

"Don't you dare accuse me of cheating on you with Sara, _nothing_ happened between us at that party!" he yelled.

"Why punch me then?"

"You fucking slapped me, you whore!" he spat at her before he yanked her hair aggressively.

Okay, these two have some serious issues that are worse than Zeus constantly cheating on Hera. Just don't tell them I said that or I'll end up dead.

"Dude! What the hell was that for?" I turned him around, narrowly dodging a punch.

"This is none of your goddamn, fucking business!" he hissed.

"Well, it is if you're attacking her," I stated, contemplating exposing myself and attacking him.

A familiar look of rage appeared on his face as he tried swinging at me, which I easily dodged, grabbing his fist and flipping him over. Unfortunately, it seemed like this caught the attention of everyone in the gym.

"You two, follow me _now_!" Dr. Thorn yelled at Eliza and I.

I froze as his eyes laid on me, a devious grin spreading across his face.

I had two options: shadow travel out of the room or make a run for it. Luckily, Percy somehow managed to make the sprinklers go on and all the drinks fly everyone.

"Come with me," I held my hand out to Eliza, "trust me, we _have_ to get outta here before Dr. Thorn gets us." Eliza stared at my hand apprehensively before grabbing it.

I ran out of the room with her in tow, quickly followed by my friends.

"I told you to blend in!" Thalia scolded me.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't leave her to get beat up by her boyfriend," I retorted angrily.

"What?"

"I'll fill you in later," I replied before we ended up on the snowy cliff outside of the military school.

"Uh, what's the plan now, Arina?" I let got of Eliza's hand and looked around for any sort of escape.

"Trying to think of something, _sweetheart_?" I glared at the approaching Dr. Thorn.

"Yeah, trying to think of how a scorpion would taste; salty or just plain bitter judging by your creepy personality." I spat, summoning my weapons with the others.

"What the hell is happening?" Eliza exclaimed fearfully.

"Just stay behind us," Percy stated, avoiding a thorn shot at us.

"For Zeus!" Thalia yelled before charging at the manticore with her spear and shield.

I was just about to join her when I was distracted by helicopter noises. I turned around and saw a sleek black helicopter closing in on us.

"C'mon," Percy motioned me to follow him.

We were about to join the fight, but a familiar looking silver arrow stopped us in our tracks.

"No!" Dr. Thorn yelled, "Curse you!" he cried out before being pierced in the shoulder by an arrow.

The hunters appeared out of the surrounding woods in their signature silver parkas and bows, firing more volleys at the angry monster.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth exclaimed with joy.

"Oh, great," Thalia grumbled, lunging for Dr. Thorn's undefended side.

"Direct interference is against Ancient Laws!"

"Not so, hunting monsters are within my realm, and you are one." Artemis turned to her lieutenant, "Zoë, permission granted."

"If I can't have them alive, I shall take them dead!" The manticore barrelled towards Thalia, Percy, and I.

"Stand back, half-blood!" Zoë yelled out to the daughter of Athena who came running at the monster.

"No!" Annabeth cried, leaping onto the monsters' back and driving her dagger into his mane.

"Fire!" She yelled as we yelled out 'no!'

The arrows hit his chest and neck, "This is not the end, the Great Stirring has just begun!" He yelled before plummetting off the cliff with Annabeth still on his back.

"Annabeth!" Percy screamed, causing me to grab him before he could think of jumping off the cliff.

"Mortals cannot witness my hunters," Artemis waved her hand, the helicopter turning into a flock of crows that flew into the night.

"W-we need to go after her!" My friend cried out.

"Percy, you can't just _hurl_ yourself off a cliff even though the ocean's underneath; for starters, Annabeth will kill me for letting you." I maintained a strong grasp on my friend.

The hunters advanced towards us, Zoë stopping in her tracks at the sight of Thalia helping Eliza standup.

"You," she seethed.

"Zoë Nightshade," Thalia spat back with an equal amount of venom.

"Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady," Naomi, another hunter, said.

"Your friend is beyond help," Artemis said to Percy dismissively as another hunter helped me hold him down before he did anything else stupid.

"Let me go!" Percy yelled, "Who do you think you are anyway?"

Zoë stepped forward, looking ready to slap my friend before Artemis stopped her. "No, he is distraught, he simply doesn't understand."

Artemis stepped forward, the moon shining brighter. "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt."

——

After a short argument about Annabeth plummeting off the cliff and trying to explain to Eliza what was going on, we began to set up camp with the hunters.

"You're _friends_ with the hunters?" Thalia exclaimed after seeing me having a friendly banter with Zoë and Phoebe after they retrieved Eliza's stuff.

"Yeah, so?" I inquired, checking my bag after one of the hunters gave it to me.

It's not like I _don't_ trust the hunters, but after living with the Stoll brothers for nearly two years, you know to examine your stuff for any traps. I'm sure at least one of these girls is a daughter of Hermes, not sure which one though.

"How could you be friends with _her_?" Thalia jerked her head in Zoë's direction with a look of distaste on her face.

"Zoë's really nice-"

"Nice? Ha, you're funny," Thalia rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"The hunters are good people," I stated.

"Really? Did they brainwash you into believing that too?"

"My sister's a hunter for crying out loud! I see nothing wrong with an immortal group of girls that swear off romance," I said angerly.

"I thought you said you didn't know your father? Also, that's _exactly_ what's wrong with them." Thalia spat, crossing her arms.

"I give up," I turned away and began searching for my sister.

"Bianca!" my sister spun around and greeted me with a hug.

"Arina! How are you? Oh, happy late birthday, sorry I couldn't IM you, we were tracking a Laistrygonian Giant that day." Bianca apologized but I shook off her regret.

"It's fine, I had fun anyway with my friends. Nico's doing fine by the way," I added after.

"Oh that's good, he's adjusting to camp well?"

"Yeah, he's enjoying the place a lot," I stated.

"Well, that's good to hear,"

"Anyway, hows the Hunt?"

"It's amazing! I love the rush and excitement when going into battle with just a bow. I have been practicing my powers though, but I only use it in emergencies. The other hunters don't know yet about our father," she whispered the last part.

"Wow! Please be careful though, I don't want to explain to Nico about why you're missing an arm or something."

"I promise,"

After that, we all were sent off to bed by Artemis.

——

The next morning, Artemis bid us farewell before heading on her quest to find an ancient monster. However, her brother ended up getting us to Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately, Thalia was driving and nearly killed us all.

After arriving at camp, Apollo left with his sun car while I introduced Eliza to Chiron.

"Grover, do you mind showing her the orientation video?"

"Sure," Grover led Eliza into the Big House while Percy, Thalia, and I remained outside with Chiron and Mr. D.

"How did the mission go?"

"Not so well," we all began explaining what happened and how Annabeth fell off the cliff.

"We must send a quest out immediately to find Annabeth," Chiron stated.

"I'll go," Thalia offered.

"No," Mr. D said seriously, "from what you said, Annie Bell is-"

"_Annabeth,_" I corrected, clenching my fists.

"Yes, yes, and it seems like you obtained another camper. Aaliyah is probably dead, I see no reason to begin a pointless quest for her."

We were about to argue when Eliza came back out with Grover, the first having a confused expression.

"Wait, so you're the trainer of demigods? And you're the god of wine?" Eliza turned to the two in question.

"Correct," Chiron stated.

"So when will I be claimed?" Eliza inquired.

"It's hard to tell, some demigods don't get claimed for a while like Arina, but some get claimed immediately," Grover answered quickly.

Eliza paused, tapping her foot. "Chiron, can I talk to you privately about something?"

"Absolutely, follow me," Chiron led her back into the Big House.

Once they left, we three walked down towards the cabin. First, Thalia left to break up a fight between some hunters and an ignorant Ares' camper, then Percy went to his room.

"Arina! You're back!" my little brother exclaimed, running up towards me.

"Hey, Neeks,"

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Percy does," Nico blushed slightly at the mention of his name before dragging me towards our cabin.


	14. An 'interesting' game

** (A/N: Enjoy this new part!)**

I joined my cabinmates for breakfast the next day. Well, if four people counted as a cabin.

"Where's the new demigod? Has she been claimed yet?" Nico asked excitedly.

I smiled at his enthusiasm. Gotta admit I find it funny how interested and happy he was all the time. It was probably also due to the fact his sister was back in camp again by the request of Artemis.

"Her name's Eliza Farriman, she's unclaimed," I replied.

"Why wasn't she in our cabin if she's unclaimed?" Travis questioned, trying to aim a chunk of bacon at a hunter's before I slapped it out of his hands.

"Do you _want_ to be castrated?" I exclaimed in exasperation.

Nico and Connor laughed while Travis shook his head quickly, a look of slight fear on his face.

"What does castrate mean?" My little brother asked.

The Stoll brothers looked at each other before me. Yeah, no, I'm not talking about that until he gets a girlfriend.

"Anyway, who's the team captain against the hunters?" I inquired, trying to change the subject.

"I think either Percy or Thalia," Connor answered with a shrug.

After breakfast, I joined Grover and Percy in a clearing to discuss a dream Percy had about a cave's ceiling collapsing with Annabeth and Luke involved.

"Do you have any idea what it could mean?"

"Well, demigod dreams never mean anything good," I replied with a shudder.

I had a really weird dream last night with a boy about a year older than me making me promise to 'fix the balance' and stuff. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've seen him before.

"I don't know, but after hearing about Zoë's dream-"

"Wait, Zoë had a similar dream?" Percy inquired.

Grover started looking frazzled, "U-uh, about three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked _really_ panicked."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Um... I might've been camping outside of their cabin," he answered with a blush.

"Why?"

"Just to be um... near them."

"You're a stalker with hooves,"

"If you weren't a satyr, they would probably castrate you too," I stated with the shake of my head.

"Heh..."

"Anyway, what did she say?"

"Well, I was hiding in the bushes," I quietly coughed 'stalker' leading Percy to snort.

"Then she was trying to talk to Chiron, but Argus wouldn't let her pass. She got really angry and started talking in an old-timey accent, then she insulted him. A bit after, Chiron came out in his pyjamas and curlers in his tail-"

"Chiron puts on curlers?" Percy gasped.

Grover looked worried before I urged him to continue. "Then she explained that she needed to go out and find Artemis because she was in danger. Zoë said someone kidnapped her!"

"How can you kidnap a goddess?" Percy questioned.

"Well, Persephone,"

"Yeah, but she's the goddess of _flowers_," Percy argued.

"She's the goddess of Springtime," I corrected him, feeling slightly angered by his comment. She _was_ my stepmom who taught me how to put people into comas with Stygian sleep.

"Whatever, Artemis is _way_ more powerful. Who could be capable enough to kidnap her?" he inquired.

"I dunno, maybe a certain Titan lord who wants to destroy Olympus?" I guessed sarcastically.

"But, isn't he like, gone?"

"Gods and titans can't be killed, only weakened. Very few ever actually died, they just fade," I pointed-out.

My father thought it was important to learn about our 'interesting' family tree, like technically my step-mom is my cousin. There's so much messed up with Olympian families.

"If he reformed already, one of the gods would know and alert Chiron. He can't be that powerful yet," Grover said in an attempt to reassure us.

"They're connected for sure,"

After I said this, a satyr ran straight into a tree that used to be a nymph, which Grover commented with "Ah, love," that nearly made me laugh if it weren't for the topic we were discussing.

"We have to talk to Zoë about this," Percy stood up.

"Uh, before you do," Grover preceded in taking out a brochure-like booklet.

"What's that?"

We both read the cover, seeing a headline with _'A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE!'_, and other captions like_'HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU!' _ and _'A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!' _with girls fighting monsters and junk. At once, I knew it was a Hunters of Artemis advertisement.

"I found this in Annabeth's backpack."

"I don't-"

"Well, it seems to me like she was thinking about joining," Grover replied.

* * *

To say the least, Percy was _not_ a happy camper after hearing that, strengthening Silena and my theory about how he likes her. I was ninety-eight percent sure she reciprocated those feelings but after seeing that brochure, it dropped to like a fifty.

"Perce, she was probably just _considering_ it, it wasn't like-"

"Did you know about it?" He turned to me, staring me down.

"Um... no, I didn't know she was interested or even _how_ she got an advertisement. Probably picked it up and enjoyed a good read?"

Percy shook his head before plopping down on a hill with me. "C'mon, lighten up,"

He sighed before replying, "Y'know, and I say this with all due respect, I would like to strangle every one of the hunters right now."

I shot him a quick glare but understood why he felt like this. He was worried about Annabeth, so was I, therefore he was funnelling his anger towards the hunters.

I knew he was very distracted because he almost killed an Ares camper in javelin-throwing class. I had to stop myself from laughing or else I'll be kicked out as well.

I knew talking to Chiron would be the best option, but he was busy and I think he would choose the option safest for Percy. Then, I got an idea.

"Come with me," I motioned him to follow me.

I saw Argus and Mr. D watching the dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece, which meant the Big House was empty. If Percy needed help, I know one person who could help. Well, 'person'.

"The Oracle?" he seemed confused when I led him to the stairs.

"Well, if you want to help Annabeth, I have a feeling a certain corpse with a spirit inside could help."

"That sounds disgusting," he replied before walking up the stairs slowly.

I actually never went into the attic, nor have I seen the Oracle. I've been at camp for a while, like longer than Percy technically, if you count saying during the school year. Anyway, all I knew was the Oracle of Delphi was cursed by my father to never have a new host until his children get proper representation or something.

I zoned out about then.

Once in the attic, I wasn't at all surprised about how it looked. It was littered with junk, old shields, bent swords, creepy taxidermy, and a corpse by the window. Of course, the only thing in that room that held any value was the spirit of Delphi inside the body.

"Uh, sup?" I greeted uncomfortably.

What else was I supposed to say? 'Sorry my dad cursed you'? Yeah, like that will go smoothly with Percy beside me.

"I have a question," Percy began, "I need to know about Annabeth? How do I save her?"

Silence.

It was hard, _again_, not to laugh at Percy. He was being stonewalled by a dead body with an Oracle inside, ha!

Gotta admit Percy is a hoot to have around.

"Fine, we'll figure it out ourselves," he spat, seeming annoyed and angered by the silent spirit.

We turned around, I bumped into a table of more souvenirs and knocked some over. _Huh, didn't Luke have a dragon claw? The one that caused his scar?_ I thought to myself before I noticed Percy pick up a familiar-looking pink scarf.

"You brought this here?"

"No, I threw it, didn't I?" I grabbed the scarf and saw it had a label.

"What?"

"Says Annie found it," I threw it back at the table before walking down the stairs first.

I heard Percy practically run down the stairs, earning a couple more laughs. Damn, he must've gotten scared of the body. Being in the Underworld so often is making me accustomed to dead people, dang.

Later that day, we started preparing for the game against the hunters. The playing field seemed even, but we all knew better. The hunters were skilled fighters, how else could they compete with Artemis? Thirteen versus thirteen seems vastly unfair to be honest if we are going against the hunters. They wiped the floor with us when we were at full capacity!

"You go defence and I'll take offence," I heard Thalia tell Percy as I helped the Aphrodite campers get suited up.

Usually, most Aphrodite campers sit around and watch, but because we were versing the hunters, they wanted to fight. Of course, they _still_ didn't want to damage their nails. Well, not all of them.

"We'll show them 'love is worthless'," Silena grumbled as she strapped on her armour. "I'll pulverize them!"

"Chill, this is only a _friendly_ match," I stated in fear of her actually getting into a fight with a hunter.

Soon Chiron told us to get to our sides and we headed to the west woods. Then, Thalia told us about her plan. I got my brother to stay with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers at Zeus' Fist, which was where our flag was located, just to be safe. Thalia afterwards told Silena and two other campers to lead the hunters away from us while she and a raiding party goes towards the flag.

"Anything to add, Percy?" I felt somewhat left out, but it was understandable. She didn't know who my father was, and Percy help lead the quest that brought her back to life. That meant Percy had some seniority over me.

"Yeah, keep sharp on defence, it's not a big forest so we have four guards and two scouts. Arina and I'll be roving, call if you need help."

"And _don't_ leave your post,"

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," I pointed-out.

"Just don't leave your post," she scowled.

"Yeah, unless-" Percy agreed with me.

"Percy," she touched his arm and I saw static shock him, but not too much.

"Sorry," she apologized insincerely, "Let's go,"

The horn sounded and we split into our groups. Silena took her group to the left while Thalia's waited a bit before storming the right.

"Sis, where's that new girl you were talking about?"

"Um... not sure, Nico, maybe she needed to contact her parents?" It was weird I haven't seen Eliza since I brought her to camp, but it was understandable if she wanted to miss the game. The whole situation must be overwhelming her.

I saw Percy climb Zeus' Fist to get a better view while I checked around just in case my sister shadow travels over. We were near a cluster of trees so I guess it would be easier to hide.

"Hey, Arina, remember when we found you hear a year ago?" Travis asked me to relieve some of the tension.

"Heh, not really, I was unconscious most of the time," I replied while Nico and Percy gave me an odd look.

"What happened?"

"She went missing for like half a week," Connor answered when I didn't.

"You didn't bother to tell me this?" Percy seemed shocked and slightly upset I didn't.

"I didn't because it didn't seem important," I argued with a nonchalant shrug.

He seemed annoyed still before staring at something.

"What's happening?" my little brother asked, trying to climb the boulder too.

"You guys can hold the fort?" Percy inquired.

"Of course," Beckendorf snorted.

"I'm going in," Percy leaped off the boulder and ran towards the hunters' spot while the boys cheered him on.

"Such a Barnacle Boy," I shooked my head while remaining in the same spot.

"You're not going after him?" Travis questioned.

"Nah, I'll wait for Thalia to kill him from going against her plan," I replied before a familiar dark-haired girl showed up.

Zoë came up behind us, jumping up and gracefully landing on the pile of rocks before grabbing our flag and jumping off. She then dashed towards the boundary line.

I burst into a run, trying to catch up to the lieutenant. I heard someone come up on my left, a glance proved it was Beckendorf trying to catch her too.

I saw Percy trip on something, falling unceremoniously onto the ground with the hunters' silver flag. He got up after and continued running towards the creek. Unfortunately, Zoë got across before him.

The cheering was heard from the hunters' side of the woods as they all came out. Chiron blew his horn, seeming rather disappointed by the outcome of the game.

"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced, his voice devoid of delight.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" Thalia screamed, stomping towards the spawn of the sea god angrily.

_Oh gods... I'll be scraping Percy off the trees after this, _I realized with the shake of my head. Thalia and Percy are children of two of the most powerful gods, a fight between them is _never_ good, ever.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Thalia screeched, blue lightning coming off her body as she got closer to Percy.

Percy balled his fists before replying, "I _got_ the flag, I saw a chance and took it!"

"I was at their base! We would've won if you hadn't butted in!"

"There were too many of them!"

"It's my fault then?"

"I-"

"Argh!" Thalia pushed Percy, electricity passing in between them before he landed ten feet back into the water.

Percy's eyes flashed in rage as Thalia paled and the hunters laugh. He summoned a huge wave and doused Thalia in it. She responded with bringing out her spear while Chiron ordered both of them to stand down.

"Guys! STOP!" I took a threatening step between them, an earthquake erupting around us.

The duo looked at me before getting distracted by something behind me. I turned, and much to my shock, the mummified Oracle came walking towards us all, a thick green mist surrounding us. She beckoned Zoë to step forward before uttering,

"_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_ One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_ The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_ Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_ The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_ And one shall perish by a parent's hand._" The Oracle announced before sitting down dramatically.

* * *

We had a counsellors' meeting after the Oracle gave Zoë the prophecy. I, of course, was not invited because I wasn't a counsellor. However, that didn't stop me from turning invisible and sneaking in. What? The rec room has a lot of shadows.

"This is pointless," Zoë said crossing her arms as she sat at one end of the table.

"Do you even know where to start?" Mr. D inquired.

"West, that was what the prophecy said," Bianca stated, also representing the Hunters as well.

"We shall head out immediately," Zoë declared firmly, "Thou will organize a group of hunters-"

"Will you speak normally?" Thalia snapped in annoyance causing Zoë to cast her a glare.

"Also, the prophecy said '_Campers and Hunters combined prevail_', meaning you need campers with you," Thalia argued with her.

"No! We do not need thy help!"

"It's _your_, no one says _thy_ in like a thousand years,"

Zoë's eyebrows furrowed. She appeared to have difficulties trying to say 'your', instead, saying 'yerr'. I honestly found it annoying that Thalia was complaining about this. Just let the goddamn girl speak how she likes! Geez...

"Whatever,"

"Yes, I'm afraid we do have to work together for this prophecy to succeed," Chiron agreed with the daughter of Zeus as I decided to sit on a discarded chair.

Unfortunately, the chair was rustier than I thought and creaked under my weight, and no, I'm not fat, it's just old. Anyway, because of the noise, everyone looked in my direction in confusion as I tried to stay hidden in the shadows.

"What was that?"

"It's nothing, let's just focus on who will go on this quest. We need five, and it's pointless to fight a prophecy." Bianca stated, casting me a sideways glance.

_Of course, she can see me, she's a daughter of Hades and my sister_, I thought with a shake of my head. _Hopefully, Mr. D or Chiron don't notice me too._

"The winter solstice is coming this Friday, Artemis must be there," Chiron said, "you must embark on this quest as soon as possible.

"Thou will take Bianca and Phoebe," Zoë claimed.

"Hey, I'm going too," Thalia interjected.

"Can I go?" Grover inquired beside Thalia, "I'm technically a camper."

"Hm... no, thy is, moderately creepy," Zoë admitted causing Grover to blush and eat a handful of ping pong balls covered in cheese whiz.

"Told you you were a stalker," Percy stated under his breath.

"I'll also bring... Arina, if she is interested," I had to stop myself from getting excited before realizing I could very well die on this quest.

Percy's eyes widened suddenly, "What about me? I want to go!" Everyone gave him a look of pity, all of us assuming he wanted to look for Annabeth as well. Of course, he didn't take that well when people were giving him that look.

"I want to help Artemis too! I'm not going on this quest just for Annabeth," he argued with all our unvoiced theories.

"I refuse to bring a _boy_ with us, and we have enough people," Zoë explained with a look of annoyance.

Percy slumped in his seat in defeat, seeming defeated and mildly pissed at the hunter. I felt bad for him, he just wanted to help Annabeth- and Artemis obviously, it almost made me want to give my spot to him. Almost.

"Wait, is Phoebe the big, scary hunter that got arrows in my helmet?" Connor questioned.

"Yes,"

"Well, we saw her admiring this shirt and wanted to give her it," Travis held up a silver t-shirt with Hunters of Artemis propaganda on it. "Do you mind giving it to her?" Once Zoë accepted the shirt, I instantly had a bad feeling in my stomach.

Phoebe attacked both of them, now they probably want revenge against her. Maybe Percy _will_ get his wish to go on this quest if she's incapacitated.

"But remember, two of you will die on this quest," Chiron reminded the questers and I.

"Try to avoid deserts," Beckendorf stated.

"And your parents," Grover added afterwards.

"What does the _Titan's curse_ mean, Chiron?" Percy questioned as we tried to unravel the prophecy.

Zoë and Chiron cast each other a nervous glance. I could tell whatever the curse was, they both knew all too well. Zoë was one of the oldest hunters, she must have heard of it while in the Hunt, and Chiron's well, the Titan's Lord son.

I guess Chiron would've wanted to go, but with Kronos rising, the last line of the prophecy could be referring to himself. He's not a coward, but I still find it odd he rather risk our lives than risk his own.

"That is it, meeting dismissed,"


	15. Percy gets a new jacket

** (A/N: Lots of skipping and junk but it'll be similar to the canon story. Enjoy!)**

Turns out, I was right about Travis and Connor putting something in Phoebe's shirt. They put centaur blood on it, which is equivalent to acid. Now, my friend's on bed rest while I chase the brothers around with my blades.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" I yelled as I chased them to the lake.

"She attacked us!"

"It was Capture the Flag; of course she attacked you!" I called out to them.

"Arina!" I turned and found my sister giving me an odd look while adjusting her bag.

"What? I'm trying to kill my cabinmates right now,"

"The quest?"

"Ugh... right, I'll meet you guys near Half-Blood Hill," I waved my hand while trying to locate the brothers.

"Don't forget to say goodbye to Nico, I think he's worried about us both going," Bianca stated before walking off.

Then I got an idea. No one was around and I saw the boys run towards the amphitheatre, so what if I just...

I focussed and melted into a shadow of a nearby tree before appearing near the entrance of the amphitheatre, giving the brothers both a heart attack before I latched my arms around both of their necks.

"Going somewhere, boys?"

"A-Arina, you're-"

"You guys are my cabinmates, I won't kill you, but it doesn't mean you guys will go unpunished. The hunters know that you two did it so I told them I'll deal with you instead of you guys getting attacked by ten angry, immortal hunters," I elaborated.

"U-uh, what are you-"

I grabbed both of them by the ear and marched them towards a bush that had been roped off by some Apollo campers and nymphs. Then, I pushed them both into the bushes before walking off.

"Wait, THIS IS POISON IVY!" I heard one of the boy's shrieks before I burst into a run before shadow travelling back to my cabin.

I filled my backpack with all the essentials, which was almost everything I owned. I still don't have a lot of stuff, just my clothes and my constellation pencil case.

I did get stuff for my birthday, but I recently relocated all that stuff to the Underworld out of fear of it getting stolen by the Hermes campers. Their father is the god of thieves so it makes total sense.

Once I packed my bags and said goodbye to Nico, I raced up the snowy hill to meet up with the rest of the girls. Unfortunately, Thalia and Zoë were arguing already.

"We should get another person to replace her! We need five!"

"This is a land without rain if the gods will it!" Zoë exclaimed.

"What's happening?" I asked Bianca.

"They're arguing about if we should get another hunter or camper to come along. Zoë doesn't want to risk any more lives while Thalia wants to follow the prophecy."

"Guys, shut up so we can save Artemis, this place could count as a land _without_ rain," I agreed with Zoë. "The longer we stay here, the more time we waste, let's just head west,"

Then, we set off with Zoë driving us. However, I felt like we were being followed or watched the whole time.

Whenever I looked out of the window, I always see something black fly across the sky before disappearing. However, it vanished when we passed the Chrysler building in New York.

We stopped in a convenience store in Maine when I felt we were being followed again. I expressed my concerns, but that somehow caused an argument between Thalia and Zoë about where we should go next.

According to Thalia, Grover played a tracking song and said we should to D.C. before we left. However, Zoë said we should just head west now.

"Guys, let's just go to D.C. we might find something useful there," I stated, struggling to keep the peace with my sister.

* * *

We parked on a curb near the Washington Monument before heading into a museum near a mall. We headed up the stairs afterwards and started to discuss our next plan of action when a familiar boy ran into Thalia, literally.

"What are you doing here, _boy_?" Zoë spat, notching her bow in unison with Bianca when Percy found us.

Percy quickly explained what happened to him, finding Dr. Thorn and somebody named the 'General' wanting Thalia. As well, he mentioned Luke and how Annabeth is still, possibly, alive. Also, one of the soldiers summoned skeleton warriors, twelve to be exact.

When Bianca and I heard this, we turned to each other. We both knew skeleton warriors were unstoppable unless killed by a child of Hades, or they were pitted against each other.

"We have to get outta here, whatever scent Grover caught was clearly wrong, he must've sensed the monsters here that equalled the creature Artemis was hunting," I stated in worry.

"We must leave immediately," Zoë said before adding, "and that does not include _thee_, boy."

"What? I-" he was about to argue when we heard screaming from down below. We all looked over an saw a lion bound up the ramp as people ran away screaming

"The Nemean Lion," Percy stated in shock.

I summoned my blades while everyone else began attacking it. Once the arrows hit it, they snapped, and when Percy and I tried swinging at it, our blades just bounced off its body.

"Got any ideas, guys?" Bianca yelled as she jumped off the Apollo capsule that the lion jumped on.

"Could you use your powers somehow?" I asked Percy just as I was about to slip off another plane. Fortunately, Percy grabbed my arm before I could fall off.

"I can't sense any water nearby,"

"Dammit,"

We jumped off the craft when I saw Percy's eyes light up as if he got an ingenious idea.

"Zoë, aim for the mouth!" He yelled before running off towards the gift shop.

"It's not the time to buy magnets and keychains!" I yelled at him, dodging a swipe from the lion and rolling over to the two hunters.

"Thou cannot hit its mouth," Zoë called back, hitting its forehead and face, but not the mouth.

At that moment, the monster flung Thalia like a ragdoll at a space shuttle. She hit it, making me cringe, before falling to the ground, increasing my anger.

"Just get ready!"

The Nemean lion roared ferociously, however, just as it opened its mouth, Percy threw several silver packets inside its mouth. The monster cringed it disgust, opening its mouth just wide enough for Zoë and my sister to shoot it in the throat.

The creature thrashed around violently, but then it froze before collapsing to the ground, dead. Not a moment later, its remains began to melt away into a glittery mess, leaving only a regular size lion's pelt.

"That was a peculiar strategy," Zoë stated as alarms were blaring around us.

"We should get outta here before they think we're terrorists, again," I said before turning my blades back into rings.

"Yeah, we should go, the Mist isn't strong enough to hide us fighting that thing," Bianca agreed.

"Take it," Zoë said to Percy, motioning towards the pelt.

"What? Isn't that like an animal rights violation?"

"You killed it, it is thine,"

"You shot it,"

Zoë smiled, "Thou believes the ice cream sandwich did most of the work. It is thy spoil of war," she grabbed the pelt and handed it to him.

Once Percy had the pelt in hand, it started to shimmer and morph into a large brownish trench coat.

"Cool," Percy stated before slipping it on as we snuck out of the museum.

Unfortunately for us, that was when the skeleton warriors started to show up. We managed to evade them a bit longer though.

"I'll distract them, they're after me, not you guys. I'll be able to-"

"No, you are apart of this quest whether I like it or not," Zoë said begrudgingly.

Hm... guess Percy managed to earn her respect.

* * *

"To that parking lot!" Bianca yelled.

"We'll be trapped!"

"Just do it!"

Bad luck struck again because we were demigods.

Zoë was driving us once more, but we were being followed by mortal mercenaries. I guess mortals can sometimes be worse than monsters.

"C'mon," Bianca ran ahead of us to an underground entrance. "It's the subway, we can go south to Alexandria."

"Anything,"

We quickly bought our tickets before slipping on to a train, finally able to relax when we didn't see anyone following us.

"Quick thinking," I nodded to my sister.

"Thanks, Nico and I use to take the subway when we use to live in D.C. This is pretty new though," her comment made me skeptical, but I knew she was from before the war so it all made sense. Of course, the others might have not known this.

"What do you mean?"

"I assure you, this wasn't around when my brother and I were kids," Percy, Thalia, and Zoë all gave each other confused looks while I remained calm.

"Geez, sis, you didn't tell them?" I gasped in mock shock.

"Tell us what?"

"Well, have you guys heard of the Lotus Casino?" She began to tell the others quietly about how she was trapped in the casino for like seventy years before being rescued by 'me'. For simplicity, we said I rescued her and Nico, that was why I wasn't on the quest for the Golden Fleece.

"Wowza," Percy seemed shocked while Thalia and Zoë took it better. Well, they were both older than how they looked. Zoë's been a hunter for centuries, and Thalia's been a tree for about seven years, she's practically seventeen or eighteen.

After our conversation, we heard the helicopter again before switching trains. We continued doing this until we had no clue where we were.

We ended up at an old-looking freight yard with several abandoned-looking train cars. As well, it was freezing because of the snow. Lucky for us, there was an oddly familiar homeless man that let us share his fire.

We then began discussing our plan of action, trying not to mention anything explicitly secret about the Greek world for the sake of the homeless dude.

"Maybe we should contact camp, Chiron-" Bianca began.

"No, we're on our own now," Zoë interrupted as the general mood dropped.

"Y'know, you're never without friends." The homeless guy said, his body covered in grime and filth, "You need a train going west?"

"Yeah, know where we can find one?" Percy inquired somewhat hopefully.

The man pointed to a train we hadn't noticed before with 'SUN WEST LINE' written on its side. Huh, convenient.

"Thanks-" Thalia turned and saw the man was gone already.

We all then snuck aboard the train, which contained many luxurious cars like Lamborghinis and state-of-the-art Lexuses.

The hunters chose to sit in the Lexus while I slipped into the Lamborghini, wanting a small taste of the rich life while Thalia hot-wired one car and was talking to Percy in it.

Was I lonely? Not really, probably a child of Hades' thing. Well, I do question how I'm a child of Hades at times due to my fear of snakes and needles.

Snakes are creatures that live in the Underworld and are involved in many Greek myths, but I'm petrified of them, honestly. They just creep me out so much! They slither, have fangs, and could very well kill me.

The same goes for needles, which are just plain scary, okay? They're sharp, they jab into your skin merciless, and leave you sore for days. I'm not anti-vac though, my mother just _loves_ jamming needles into my arms and other parts of my body.

When she use to leave the house, she would sometimes steal the doctors' vaccinations and use it for the heck of it. Seriously, she was the worst and I'm so glad I'm liberated of her constraints from now on.

"Mind if I join you?" I turned and realized Percy was standing awkwardly outside my car.

"Sure, hop in," I pushed opened the door and continued to recline in my seat.

"How's it going?"

"Bored, what about you?"

"Nearly got fried again by Thalia,"

"Ha, you pissed her off, _again_? Damn, new record," I joked lightheartedly.

He punched me in the shoulder playfully, "Haha," he replied sarcastically.

"What _did_ you say to her?" I inquired, "Did you make fun of her clothes?"

"No, I just asked why she hates Zoë," Percy elaborated, leaning back in his seat as well. "It was because she got into an argument with her about Luke."

"Yeah, she was pretty close to him, so I heard,"

"But is she willing to fight him? Even if that means killing him?"

"What about you? You're also up next in the prophecy after Thalia," I questioned him curiously. I wonder how far he will go before killing someone.

"I'm-I'm not sure," he faltered, looking unsure.

"Hey," I put one of my arms around him, "you might not be a part of the prophecy at all! Thalia might be the chosen one, or, you have two years left." I reassured him.

"Um... you're talking-"

"Yes I'm talking about the prophecy everyone is refusing to tell us," I stated with a sigh.

He has barnacles for brains, I swear.

"I'm gonna get some sleep, try not to get killed by the others while I sleep, Bianca can only hold off Zoë and Thalia for so long," I joked before slipping into the backseats.

"I'll try,"

_ (Dream: Still Arina's P.O.V.)_

_ I was running through tall grass, but it was too dark for me to tell where I was. However, somehow my body knew where to go._

_ "Hurry," my own voiced surprised me. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place where. "He will find us!"_

_ I realized I was pulling someone with me, they had a Nemean Lion pelt like Percy, but it looked just like a regular animal pelt. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch their face._

_ "I'm not afraid," the person, a male, said as I dragged him along._

_ "You should be!" _

_ I dragged the man further into an unfamiliar place. Eventually, we collapsed behind several bushes. _

_ I felt odd running, and when I looked down, I realized my whole attire had seemed to change, so did my hair. I had long, dark hair, and tanned skin. As well, I was wearing sandals, which I should point out, never should be worn while running, and a dress that seemed to glow faintly._

_ "The is no need to run. I have bested thousands of beasts with my bare hands," the man said to me. _

_ Finally, I got a good look at the man and realized he looked oddly familiar. He had black hair and blue eyes, reminding me instantly of Percy. However, while Percy's eyes were sea green and held childish mirth, this man had a hardened look that showed he lived a tough life. Also, there was something else in his eyes I couldn't name, but I had a sinking feeling it wasn't anything good._

_ "Not this one," I began, "Ladon is a powerful creature, you must go around and up the mountain to my father. That is the only way,"_

_ "I do not trust your father,"_

_ "And that is a good choice, but you must deceive him! You cannot take the prize directly, or else you will die!" I heard worry creep into my voice as I warned this man._

_ "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?" I felt myself blush as he chuckled._

_ "I... I am afraid of Ladon, my sisters will disown me if they found out I helped you." I admitted nervously._

_ "Then there's nothing for it," he rubbed his hands together, preparing to stand up._

_ "Wait!" I wavered slightly before pulling a white brooch from my hair and handing it to him carefully._

_ "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was the daughter of the ocean, the ocean's power is within it. My immortal powers," I added, breathing on it, giving it an ominous glow._

_ "Take it, and make it a weapon,"_

_ "A hairpin? How will this defeat Landon, pretty one?" The way he said 'pretty one' sounded condescending in so many ways._

_ "It is all I can offer, it might not help if you insist on being stubborn,"_

_ He accepted the hairpin. The moment it touched his hand, it grew into a long, bronze blade that I vaguely recognized._

_ "Well balance, what shall I call it?"_

_ "Anaklusmos," I supplied sadly, "the current that takes one by surprise. Once you realize it, you are adrift at sea."_

_ Then, a loud hissing noise was heard around us._

_ "He found us!"_

_ (Dream Over)_

I sat up from my dream, realization striking me instantly as I stared at Percy's sleeping form in the front seats.

Anaklusmos, aka Riptide, was Percy's sword. However, the first owner was none other than Zoë Nightshade.

* * *

Our train eventually arrived in a snowy location. We decided to head to a ski village before planning further.

Along the way there, Percy told me about his conversation with Apollo, or 'Fred', as he dubbed himself. Apparently, the sun god told us to head to San Francisco to talk to a god named Nereus for information.

Later on, we tried to figure out how to get out of the town but it turns out, there were no bus stations, taxis, or anything of the sort in the small secluded town. We managed to get some food, coffee, and hot chocolate though, courtesy of Zoë and I.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.

For some reason, a rubber rat Percy got came to life and so did the drawings of birds on our cups. Afterwards, an unnaturally warm breeze blew passed before Thalia came back with her spear out, saying there was trouble.

Turns out, we were found by the skeleton warriors, or more specifically, Percy.

We were on the outskirts when they came, two in front, and two behind us. They were all clad in blue New Mexico State police uniforms with shotguns to boot.

"We're surrounded," I heard someone say as I summoned my blades.

After that, Percy ran towards a skeleton, managing to dodge a bullet and strike it through with his sword. Unfortunately, once the whole thing was disassembled, it began to rebuild itself. That's when the rest of us sprung into action.

"Percy!" I turned and saw a warrior shoot Percy in the back, the latter collapsing on the ground before I swung my blades at the skeleton, it burst into flames.

"How did thy do that?" Zoë eyed my in surprise, firing more arrows.

"Lucky hit?" I replied, dodging another bullet.

I saw Percy get up from the ground, shocking me before I realized the pelt must've been bulletproof.

Not long after, we heard loud rustling from the forest near us. At first, I thought it was reinforcements for the skeletons but it turns out, it was a thirty-foot boar that shattered them all.

"The Erymanthain Boar!" Zoë exclaimed in shock as the boar swung its tusks at us.

Then, we all scattered, confusing the beast. I saw Thalia and Percy get chased by it, and I knew instantly Percy had a stupid idea when he led it uphill.

"What is he doing?" Bianca questioned as they disappeared.

"Well, this is definitely not a place without rain so we're good," I said, trying to ease the discomfort.

Zoë then trudged up the hill several minutes after. We followed the footprints and hoofprints of the others before getting to a sketchy bridge that half-collapsed.

"Guys?" I yelled out.

"Down here!" I looked over and saw Percy and Thalia at the bottom of the hill, the boar nowhere in sight, thankfully.

Once down there, we all watched the boar struggle in the snow under the broken bridge, collectively deciding it was our ride to the west.

Thalia, Bianca, and I hopped on it first. I looked over and saw Zoë and Percy talking about something before coming over to us. From the looks of it, Percy said something unintelligible, but not stupid enough to get killed by the hunter.

The boar soon freed itself from the snow and we all had to hold on extremely tight or else we would fall off. It was like bull riding, but with a boar instead.

We rode for hours, stopping only when the sun began to set.

I had no clue how far we've travelled, possibly across the whole country by the looks of it. We ended up in a desert, giving me an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

The boar stopped near a creek, drinking its muddy water and eating a cactus.

We all slipped off the boar, creeping around it before deciding our next plan of action for our quest. I had a feeling we only had a few days left before the solstice, and we needed to find Artemis by then.

We kept on walking until we arrived at an abandoned town with boarded-up windows in practically every building. As well as a surprisingly large junkyard.

Soon we set up a makeshift camp, the hunters producing sleeping bags while Thalia made a fire from lightning.

"Woah, the stars," we all looked up and I gasped at the sight above us.

The sky was so clear, with no light pollution or planes in sight, causing the stars to be seen so clearly. Thousands, possibly millions of stars glittered in the sky above us, taking my breath away.

"This is nothing, back in the old days, there were more constellations. Over time, human light pollution caused them to fade away," Zoë said.

Shortly after, Zoë and Thalia had a short argument about the words 'thee', 'thy', and 'you'. I didn't really pay attention though, I was just trying to get a mental picture of all the stars above.

"Arina, how did you defeat that skeleton warrior earlier?" All eyes were on me after Thalia asked her question.

"I don't know," I lied.

"Your blades?"

"They're just plain old blades,"

"Bianca also made one burst into flames too," Percy pointed-out, causing me to internally glare at him.

"Zoë and I have the same blades,"

"Maybe it was a certain spot?" Thalia suggested.

Bianca and I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the attention, but fortunately enough, Zoë cut in and devised our next step.

"We need to get through this junkyard before we head to Las Vegas," she said.

Before we could continue our conversation, a car showed up in front of us, the headlights nearly blinding us.

* * *

I knew something bad was going to happen when the sword went to Percy's throat. To make matters worse, it was Ares' blade, the god who currently hates Percy and I.

"Why don't you guys get some tacos while you wait? Percy and Arina will only take a few minutes," Ares stated.

"The place-" he snapped his fingers and the taco place nearby lights turned on.

The others didn't seem comfortably leaving us both with the war god.

"We'll be fine, I'll keep Percy out of trouble," I joked, urging them to go on without us.

The trio reluctantly obliged and went inside the taco place. I prayed Zoë and Thalia wouldn't kill each other while in there. If they do, hopefully, Bianca can hold them off long enough for us to get back.

Ares gave us a look of complete abhor before opening the door of the car, which was a limousine, like a chauffer.

"Mind your manners, she isn't as forgiving as I am," I slipped into the car after Percy.

The moment we entered the car, I saw Percy's look of shock and admiration towards the female in front of us. She emanated love and was beautiful.

I knew who she was by the warnings from my step-mom instantly.

"Nice to meet you, finally," I nodded my head as Percy made some idiotic noises to the goddess.

Ugh... Barnacle Boy needs to keep his head screwed on properly.

Aphrodite was mainly talking to Percy the whole time, ignoring all my questions as Ares scoffed outside.

She talked about how he was really on the quest to save Annabeth, and I for once agreed with the love goddess. He clearly likes Annabeth.

Of course, the other things I heard her say were useless and somewhat frightening. She said Percy and Annabeth's love story was going to be tragic, so that freaked me out. Also, she said he was going to have many more hardships in his love life before dismissing him and warning him about the junkyard, which coincidentally belonged to Hephaestus.

I was about to leave when she beckoned me to stay.

"I'll see you out there," I said to Percy after he left the car.

Aphrodite sat in front of me, her lips pursed as she tapped her chin before shaking her head in disappointment.

"I almost feel _bad_ for what's gonna happen in your love life," she stated.

"You're controlling my love life, change it then if you feel bad for me," I didn't like how she said that. She was _excited_ about Percy's love troubles, how bad is mine in comparison?

"I said _almost_," she pointed-out, "and it's for the Fates to decide."

Oh, who knew I could feel _worse_ when she said that. When the Fates are involved, nothing good ever happens. Take, for example, all our lives.

"Okay, that's all then?" I prepared to leave the car.

"Uh uh," she grabbed me by the arm and stared at me. I had to restrain myself from yelling 'what' at her.

"You'll face many trials that's for sure, but I guarantee you will have a happy ending." She stated before pushing me out of the limo.

Once outside, I saw a flash of red before I was lying on the ground beside Percy, feeling a bit disoriented.

I looked around and realized all the buildings were gone, we were all in the junkyard.

From there, the others interrogated us on our meeting with the love goddess.

"She just said be careful in the junkyard; don't pick up anything," Percy said, probably not wanting to talk about Annabeth.

"Doesn't seem like something Aphrodite would say." Thalia stated, "What about you? Did she say anything to you?" she turned to me.

"Nothing important, just a bunch of love mumbo jumbo," it was true. The only thing that worried me was how she said she felt _bad_ for me. What exactly is going to happen to me? What were the Fates planning?

"Anyway," Percy began, wanting to change the subject, "where to next? How do we get out?"

"We head that way," Zoë pointed in one direction.

I looked up and saw Ursa Major in the sky, confirming that was west because the constellation was north. Therefore, the left of it was west.

I might be sorta an astronomy geek.

As we went through the junkyard, it was hard to resist the urge to touch anything. I touched like two things, but the others, not including Zoë and Thalia, touched practically everything they saw. Something about the whole situation felt wrong though.

Eventually, we came across giant toes, causing us to take a long way around it. We finally arrived at the highway afterwards.

"We made it out, thank the gods," Zoë exclaimed once outside.

Unfortunately, she spoke too soon.

We heard loud crashing noises behind us, prompting us to turn. Behind us was this giant robot, which the toes were for, who rose from the ground. It looked intimidating and got even scarier when Thalia indirectly insulted it.

"Who took something?" Thalia looked directly at Percy when she asked this.

"I do a lot of things, but I didn't take anything from the junkyard," Percy retorted, seeming somewhat offended by the accusation.

I caught Bianca's eye and saw a guilty look on her face. I knew it was too late to do anything so I decided not to press further.

We split up as we did at the museum, Thalia ran towards the highway, Bianca and Percy went towards the junkyard, Zoë was firing to one side with me beside her.

"Hey, ugly, over here!" I distracted Talos from the arguing figures of Bianca and Percy.

I rolled away from the foot that came down above me, running into a pile of junk.

"Keep it distracted!" I heard someone yell.

I turned towards the noise, seeing Bianca run straight towards Talos with Percy coming up behind her, stabbing one of the many toes of the automaton.

"Arina!" I faced the monster and was sent flying back by its foot, crashing into an Olympic Air refrigerator.

I tried to gain my bearings, feelings dazed from the blow. I faintly heard someone calling out my name before Zoë appeared in my blurry vision.

"Are you okay?" she offered her hand as my vision refocussed itself.

I nodded my head before accepting her hand.

I stared at the machine in confusion as it started attacking itself and doing a weird dance, reminding me of the Funky Chicken.

"Yes, Bianca!" Percy cheered much to my horror.

"She's _in_ there?" I gasped.

Zoë grabbed my arm and pulled me away as the machine attacked itself, running towards the highway with Percy and Thalia coming up behind us. I started to hear a loud ringing noise in my ears as the automaton ran into the electrical wires, blue electricity lighting up its whole body before it froze, beginning to crumble to the ground afterwards.

We all ran towards it, avoiding the falling debris as the ringing got louder and louder for me. I knew what had happened, and I had no clue how to tell Nico.

How were you supposed to tell someone their sister died?


	16. Dam, this isn't going to end well

**Enjoy!**

I sat in the pickup bed of a tow truck we found near the junkyard, trying to distract myself from the fact my sister was dead.

The others were all sitting in silence as well, Percy beside me and Thalia driving while Zoë sat in shotgun, equally as shocked and saddened as me.

"It should've been me, I should have gone in instead of her," Percy said.

"No, it should've been me,"

"As if that would have made it better for Nico," Percy argued with me.

"I should have kept on eye on her while in there," I laid back in the pickup bed.

Percy was currently holding what my sister took, a Mythomagic figurine Nico didn't have yet. Something about it seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've seen that face before.

"It's too late now anyway," he shook his head, looking defeated.

"We need to move on," I stated, "mopping around won't help any of us. We can't let her die in vain,"

Soon after, our truck ran out of gas near a river canyon, which was a dead-end. Fortunately enough, some flirty naiads helped us get downriver.

I was in a canoe that we 'borrowed' from a tourist stop with Thalia while the second canoe held Zoë and Percy.

"You think it was a good idea to put those two together?" I questioned my cousin as we were pushed.

"I think he could talk to her, I'm getting kinda worried about her," Thalia admitted much to my surprise.

"I thought you hated her?"

"Yeah but..." she trailed off, looking away.

We eventually ran into a dam, causing the naiads to stop us. We all got out of the canoes, watching the naiads disappear, who were all looking annoyed by the dam blocking their river.

"Hoover Dam," I said, "built in the 1930s."

The dam was ginormous, all the visitors were specks from our spot.

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia added.

"Largest construction project in the US," Percy sighed with the shake of his head.

"How do thee know this?" Zoë eyed us all weirdly.

"Annabeth loved architecture," I elaborated, gazing up at one of Annabeth's favourite monuments sadly.

"She was obsessed with monuments,"

"Always talking about facts,"

"Wish she was here," Percy stated sadly.

Thalia and I nodded in agreement while Zoë stared at us strangely, but quite frankly, we didn't care enough to complain out. We all wanted Annabeth here, more or less safe and sound.

"We should go up there, but not just for her sake, that's the only place where the road is," I stated, pointing up to the dam.

"You're crazy and right," Zoë agreed.

It took us almost an hour to get up to the top of the dam, finally finding a path later on. Once at the top, Zoë was glancing around uneasily.

"Monsters?" As a hunter, she must have been accustomed to the scent of monsters so she could easily sense and track them.

"Possibly, the wind travels so it could be miles of away, we must continue with caution though," she added.

We began walking on the road, talking about metal statues up ahead.

"A gift from Athena to my dad," Thalia elaborated.

"What are they doing, then?" I gestured towards the clusters of mortals at the bases of the statues.

"Rubbing the feet for good luck, I suppose," she shrugged.

"Mortals do come up with weird ideas,"

"I agree,"

"Let's head to the visitor centre, there's a snack bar in there," Thalia stated as we continued walking.

"You've been here before?" Percy inquired.

"To talk to the guardians," she pointed to the statues once more.

I motioned for Percy to stop talking, I could tell from Thalia's expression whatever happened wasn't good. I didn't want to deal with lightning chasing us.

"Let us find the dam snack now," Zoë said, walking towards the visitor centre.

I snorted, "Dam snack bar?"

"Yes, what is so amusing about that?" Zoë replied in confusion.

"Oh, nothing, I just want to eat some dam fries," Percy added with a smile.

"I need to use the dam washroom too," Thalia added before the three of us burst into laughter, much to the bewilderment of Zoë.

"I do not understand,"

"I also need to buy a dam t-shirt," I had to hold my side as we continued laughing.

"I might need to use the dam fountain!"

"We need to buy some dam souvenirs," I joked.

We were still laughing when I heard a weird noise, wiping the smile off of Percy's face and mystifying me.

"What was that noise?" I questioned.

"You mean dam noise?" Thalia replied with a laugh.

"I'm serious,"

"I did not hear anything," Zoë stated.

"You okay, Percy?" I looked at Percy worriedly. He seemed, off. Not upset, but more confused and something else I couldn't detect.

"Yeah," he looked towards the lake on one side of the dam. "You guys go ahead of me, I need a minute to... um... think."

The rest of us looked at each other before leaving apprehensively.

I had the strong urge to stay with Percy, but he said he wanted some time alone, and I didn't want to argue.

Instead, I snuck behind and behind a large group of tourists.

"How did you get here?" _Who was he talking too?_

I looked over the edge and saw a weird creature swimming around, mooing like a cow to Percy while he remained confused. Several seconds later, it flipped back into the water just as the hair on my head stood on end.

I saw them out of the corner of my eye, skeleton warriors clad in camouflaged walking in our direction. I grabbed Percy's hand through the crowd and ran towards the visitor centre.

"Hey- Arina?" He seemed shocked that I followed him.

A black van drove on the road, nearly killing several tourists. More skeleton warriors emerged from the vehicle as I made the split-second decision to run down the stairs, having no clue where I was going.

We ran through a security checkpoint, the guard yelling at us to stop as we passed through the metal detectors. From there, we ran towards a closing elevator in an attempt to escape.

"Why *huff* did you *huff* follow me?" Percy asked in between breaths.

"Well, I helped you, you owned me one,"

"I could've handled myself just fine,"

"Sure you could, Barnacle Boy,"

We ended up with a tour group, discovering there was only one way back to the snack bar, which was another elevator. Unfortunately, that was occupied with more skeleton set on attacking us.

Percy led me down a side hallway away from the crowds. Once there, we were both pretty antsy that he slashed blindly at a mortal girl who was trying to blow her nose.

"Ahh! Do you always kill people who blow their nose?" The redhead girl exclaimed, dropping her tissue in shock.

"You're mortal," I exclaimed when the sword passed harmlessly through her.

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean? Who are you guys, even?" she questioned.

I was about to use the Mist when Percy tried to, but I could tell something was wrong when he tried it. Usually, I could see the Mist shimmer around mortals and demigods, but nothing happened when he did it to her.

"She's clear-sighted, she can see through it," I stopped him from embarrassing himself further.

"What does that mean? What are you guys doing down here? Why didn't that thing hurt me?" She asked a million questions a minute, annoying me instantly. Also, I felt oddly jealous for some reason.

"Who _are _you?" Percy inquired.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she said indignantly, "and answer my questions or should I scream for security?"

"No, we're in a hurry and in trouble," I stated.

She looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening, "Hide!" She shoved us both into the boys' bathroom.

We both stood, confused, in the boys' bathroom as something dawned on me.

"Uh, should I be averting my eyes or something?" I questioned, covering my eyes after realizing I was in a male's washroom.

"There's no one in here but us, Arina," Percy said, pulling my hand away from my eyes.

I heard talking from outside. It appeared Rachel was conversing with the skeletons before sending them off on a false lead.

"You're clear, but not for long," she stated when she opened the door.

"Thanks," I looked down the all, seeing the skeletons near the balcony. It gave us a couple of seconds to get to the elevator.

"What were those-"

"Skeletons, and we have to get going," I grabbed Percy by his hand and pulled him towards the empty lift.

"Do yourself a favour and forget this whole thing, even me nearly killing you."

"Who are you guys?" she inquired.

"Percy- gotta go!" I yanked his arm into the closing elevator before glaring at him.

"Why did you tell her your name?" I questioned as the elevator rose.

"It didn't hurt anything," he replied.

"Yeah, but still," I crossed my arms.

I didn't know why I felt so frustrated and annoyed by him telling her his name. It did no harm, but why do I feel bothered by it? What's the likelihood of us seeing that girl again, like, ever? America's a big place, she could be visiting from ANYWHERE.

Once at the top, we quickly searched for our friends. We found them with some burritos in the snack bar.

"We need to get out of here, _quick_," I stated, grabbing a burrito and biting into it.

"Why?" Thalia questioned.

Zoë pointed towards the windows that gave a panoramic view of outside, "That's why,"

Outside were the rest of the skeletons, all of them looking for us. Unfortunately, they spotted us and headed towards us.

At that moment, Percy got this actually brilliant idea.

He threw a burrito at the skeletons, prompting a food fight with all the other kids and teens in the area. The skeletons couldn't fire their guns as food and drinks were flung around, hitting all of us.

We all ran towards the exit, burritos flying passed our heads as we headed up to the road. To make matters worse, more skeleton warriors closed in on us.

I saw Percy eye something, whatever it was, it prompted him to make Thalia pray to her dad. She refused at first, saying he never answers, but eventually, she complied.

Not long after the metal statues flew above us, casting a huge shadow over us all. They landed in front of us, turning to Thalia.

"Zeus' kid?"

"Yes, get us outta here," Thalia replied hurriedly.

"A please, Miss Zeus' kid,"

"Please," she said forcefully.

The two statues looked at each other before grabbing two of us and flying into the air. We flew high above the dam and skeletons. All we saw below were ant-sized people and small flashes from gunfire.

* * *

I woke up from my sleep when we arrived in San Francisco, landing near a bridge and giving a homeless man a heart attack.

The statues we rode took off, heading to a party with their friends away from there.

"Where to next? We're in the west, but where's Artemis?" I questioned others.

"We have to talk to Nereus, for the monster, remember?" Percy reminded me.

"Nereus?" Thalia appeared confused.

"Apparently he knows everything," I replied with a shrug.

"Nereus," Zoë made a face, "he's always easy to find. Come along,"

Off we went, following Zoë.

Turns out Nereus was hiding on an old dock with a bunch of hobos, so we had to disguise Percy in clothes from a gross donation box. Could they have at least _cleaned_ the garments before donating them?

"Heh, you look great," I stifled a laugh as we walked near the pier.

"Don't say a word to anybody else,"

"You're lucky I left my camera," I stated with a smirk with the other girls.

Percy later stumbled towards the dock, pretending he was some drunk homeless teen. Eventually, he ran into this old man that looked like a grumpy, unclean Santa Claus. He then grabbed the sea god, wrestling him as we watched afar.

"You think he needs help?" I asked the others.

"Nah, Kelp Head's fine,"

Several seconds later, they rolled into San Francisco Bay, Nereus continued to struggle and didn't seem to realize Percy was a son of Poseidon. Some know-it-all god.

We ran down to the boat dock when he managed to pin the god down, he had finally given up.

"The usual?"

"I have more than one question,"

"Only the one per capture," Nereus replied.

I was going to offer to capture him again, but Percy seemed to be thinking about the question he could ask.

He could ask about where Artemis was and who captured her. He could ask about what we're up against. However, I had a feeling he would want to ask about Annabeth, but I could tell he wouldn't do that because he knew Annabeth wouldn't have wanted that.

"What was the monster Artemis was seeking?" Percy finally asked.

The sea god smiled, "That's easy, it's over there." With that, he turned into a goldfish and backflipped into the ocean.

I was about to go after him when I heard a familiar mooing come from the water. I turned and saw the strange creature that I saw talking to Percy at the dam.

"What is-"

"The Ophiotaurus," Zoë gasped when she saw the innocent cow-like creature.

"The Ophio-whatish?" what did she just say?

"It's a monster that the Titans were hunting for in the First Titan War, its entrails can bring down Olympus if burned by thy enemies." Zoë elaborated, a look of worry on her face.

The creature mooed loudly at the mention of entrails. _Guess it doesn't like to be talked about being sacrificed_, I thought.

Thalia squatted down to the monster, holding out her hand for it to nuzzle. However, the expression on her face troubled me. It was a look I often saw on Ares whenever anyone mentions a war, a look of yearning, an appearance of desire. A bad feeling grew in my stomach, growing further when I heard a familiar French accent behind us.

"We defeated you once before," I said, summoning my blades as I noticed the two guards on either side of him.

"Yes, but with the help of a _goddess_, who currently is out of commission," Dr. Thorn retorted with a villainous smirk.

Zoë prepared to fire her arrow at the monster, but the guards raised their guns in turn.

Then, something _bad_ happened.

Dr. Thorn started talking to Thalia, no, _coaxing_ her. He was convincing her to sacrifice the entrails of 'Bessie', dubbed by Percy, and defeat the gods. He was manipulating her because she would be sixteen in a matter of days. She could be the child of the prophecy, and her next choice could define the rise or fall of Olympus.

He was brainwashing her somehow, she appeared dazed and not truly in the moment, so I sprung into action.

I carefully tapped my foot against the ground, creating an earthquake that distracted them. Afterwards, Zoë shot fart arrows at them as a diversion before we made a ran for it, Percy grabbing Thalia's arm as she stood there, transfixed by the manticore's words.

We ran, not knowing where, before we stopped at a water fountain. I gave one look to Percy before he sliced the mouthpiece off, dousing Thalia in the water and snapping her out of her daze.

"Hey! What-"

I interrupted her by flicking a drachma into the fountain, sending out a silent prayer to Iris to send a message to Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately for us, Chiron wasn't there and only Mr. D sat on the porch of the Big House.

We began negotiating with him for help, he, of course, denied it.

"Please, Mr. D, help us," Percy begged.

A second later, an oddly familiar experience washed over me. I saw flashes of purple before witnessing the guards put their guns in their mouths and run around like dogs. Soon after, vines shot out of the ground and grabbed a struggling Dr. Thorn.

"T-thank you, Mr. D," I was utterly shocked by his help.

"Can you transfer the Ophiotaurus back to camp?" Percy inquired.

"I'm not an animal carrier,"

"But where do we go then?" Thalia questioned, finally regaining her senses.

"Oh, the huntress should know where. Get there before sunset," he replied before waving the Iris-Message away.

"What did he mean by that?" We turned to Zoë who had a grave look on her face.

"There, we must head back to my home," she pointed to a mountain concealed by the Mist, its visibility shimmered in and out of focus.

* * *

"What are we gonna do about Bessie?" I asked as we ran along the shoreline to get to the mountain.

"We can't just leave her," Percy stated.

"But we can't bring her along," I pointed-out.

"Can't it travel between different bodies of water? You said you met it before, maybe we can get it back to camp?" Thalia suggested as Bessie mooed beside us.

"Yeah, you can send a prayer to your dad to give him safe passage back to camp," I agreed.

"I guess," Percy nodded.

"Dad, help us. Please get the Ophiotaurus back to camp safely," he prayed.

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice,"

Percy took off his coat, staring at it, "This works,"

"But Percy, you might need that! Hercules used it," I countered as he glanced at Zoë before replying.

"If I'm going to succeed, it won't be because of some other demigod's cloak," and with that, he threw the coat into the ocean.

It slowly sunk before disappearing completely with Bessie.

"So how are we gonna get up that mountain?" Percy asked.

"It would be nice if we have a car," after I said this, everyone paused. None of us wanted to steal someone's car.

"It's not like we know anyone in San Fransisco," he shook his head.

"Actually," Thalia opened her bag and grabbed something. "I know one person."

"Who?"

"Professor Chase, Annabeth's dad,"

With that, we embarked on a short trip to Annabeth's dad's new house.

It didn't take as long as we thought to find the house. Once there, we told Mr. Chase we were friends of Annabeth. Instantly, he was worried. We didn't say anything, but our expressions gave away enough.

"Wait, have I met you before?" Mr. Chase asked me.

"Um... maybe? I use to be a friend of Annabeth before she ran away," I answered, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"Oh... Alexandria, right?"

"Arina," Mr. Chase shook his head at his mistake before letting us enter his house.

I could tell from the moment I walked in, this house was of someone who had just moved in. There were unpacked and packed boxes everywhere and some plastic covering furniture.

"Dad!" I saw two twin boys run-up to Mr. Chase, arguing about something.

Not long after he solved the issue, Mrs. Chase, Annabeth's step-mom, came in.

I've never actually _met_ Mrs. Chase, but Annabeth painted her as a cruel, temperamental person. However, she was quite the opposite. When she heard about Annabeth in trouble, she showed genuine worry. She even offered to give us snacks!

Mr. Chase led us upstairs to explain the situation to him while his wife prepared us snacks.

Once in his study, it was exactly as I expected from someone who attracted the attention of Athena. Books, _everywhere_, and tons of boring educational stuff as well. Something that interested me was all the model planes hanging from the roof and miniature soldiers lining the table. Zoë commented on that, and Mr. Chase was amazed that she witnessed the battle he was recreating herself before Thalia brought us back to the original issue.

At first, Mr. Chase wanted to drive us in his biplane, and I mean a _real_ biplane, not the little figurines. However, Zoë said a car would suffice before saying that it was too dangerous for him to go.

At that moment, Mrs. Chase came in with food, which I tried my best not to take too greedily as my stomach rumbled in hunger.

"Thanks," I said as I bit into the gooey, fresh cookies.

"Fine, I will let you have the car, just let me find my keys." Mr. Chase began looking around the room for his keys until Mrs. Chase pointed out they were downstairs.

After that, we headed out before Mrs. Chase called out something.

"Percy, please tell Annabeth she still has a home here? Just remind her that, please?" Mrs. Chase said to my friend as Thalia and Zoë started up the car.

"We will," I replied for him before grabbing his elbow and leading him to the car.

As if the Fates were against us, as they usually were, traffic was dreadful. It was nearly sunset when we got to Mount Tam.

I could sense the Mist was remarkably strong because it was a Titan's home and the location of the Garden of the Hesperides.

I think they knew we were coming because Thalia and Zoë warned us to get out of the car. Once outside of it, we all ducked before a lightning bolt blew up the car. If we didn't cover ourselves, we would've been dead.

"_One shall perish by a parent's hand_," Thalia grumbled with a glare towards the sky.

"Thalia, you can't be sure that's your father," I stated as Percy helped me up.

"Who else can shoot lightning?" Thalia exclaimed.

"I don't know, Titans?" I guessed with a shrug before noticing Zoë standing up ahead, completely still.

Percy tried calling out to her as we neared, which resulted in him getting shushed because Landon was asleep at that moment.

We tried to sneak in at first, but Zoë's sisters confronted us.

"Sisters," Zoë greeted coldly.

"We do not see our sister, we only see three demigods and a Hunter," one of the Hesperides replied with equal coldness.

I could easily see the similarities between the five, all sharing the same hair, eyes, and accent. However, I could easily tell how much braver Zoë was compared to her sisters.

They warned us about the Titan ahead, telling us to go back.

"Thou should be dead," a different one said to Percy.

"He does not look like a threat," another stated.

"Who said I was a threat?" Percy inquired.

"Thee should have killed him," the first one said to Thalia, ignoring Percy.

"It's tempting, but no, he's my friend," Thalia responded.

They then turned to me. I saw one girl's mouth quickly turn into a smirk before disappearing. Somehow, that ominous expression made me even more worried.

"What? What's so funny?" I retorted.

"Oh... nothing," one sister said.

"Thee is like thy father too much," her words sent a chill down my spine.

I'm like my father in _what_ way? In a creepy, undead way, or an impatient, impulsive way? This message rattled me more.

Not long after, Zoë woke Landon, using herself as a distraction as we snuck around the side of the garden trying to escape. Unfortunately, something happened between Landon and her, causing him to bite back at her. I think she might have gotten injured by him before we managed to get further up the mountain.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as she clutched her side.

"Y-yes, I am fine," she said, the complete opposite of fine.

Once at the top of the mountain, Thalia and Zoë explaining it was Mount Othrys, the rival mountain of Olympus. As well, we encountered Artemis struggling to hold up the sky.

"My lady!" Zoë exclaimed, running towards the goddess before the immortal ordered her to stop.

"It's a trap! You must leave immediately!" Artemis warned us.

Zoë ran forth anyway, struggling to break the chains that held the goddess in place.

"How sweet," I turned to see a man in a suit.

"The General," Percy whispered to me.

My eyes widened as I saw Luke beside him, holding a gagged and tied up Annabeth. He held a sword to her neck but seemed hesitant to do any more. As well, he looked sickly pale, as if he hadn't had a proper rest in days.

"How's my little traitor doing?" The General asked Zoë with a smirk, "I'll enjoy killing you."

Then, everything clicked for me.

'_His_ little traitor'? The eyes, the regal grace she had. The Hesperides were children of...

"You're Atlas," I realized.

"Correct," he stated with a crooked smile.

I saw Percy stare at Atlas and Zoë respectively, recognizing their similarities as I did.

"Let Artemis go," Zoë ordered, her grip tightening on her bow.

"Oh, Artemis could leave if she wishes, but that would mean someone would have to hold the sky. Are you interested, _traitor_?" Atlas asked his daughter.

Zoë might've considered this for a split second because Artemis cried out, "Do not listen to him! I forbid you from taking this weight of mine!"

Everyone continued to talk as I analyzed the situation, which was quite out of character for me.

I saw we were in a cave on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the water. The cave was relatively spacious, being able to hold a twenty-something feet Titan and several demigods and/or monsters. As well, there were several dragon-women bodyguards around this golden coffin. _Kronos_, I realized.

Artemis was holding up the sky, and someone must be willing to take it from her, but how can we trick Atlas to get underneath and hold it up? Asking is an obvious no, but what could we do? We need to fight him and distract him, pushing him under the sky.

_ The Titan's curse must one withstand_.

We won't manage a fight on our own without Artemis' help, we would need someone else to go under to prevent the sky from falling on us. However, who's willing to hold up a gazillion pounds? Maybe we could even trick Luke to go under again.

At that moment, I noticed Luke had multiple grey streaks in his hair while Annabeth had only one. _The Titan's Curse_, I recalled.

After my realization, we broke into a fight: questers versus Titan and traitor. Thalia went straight for Luke, who pushed Annabeth to the side before countering all of Thalia's moves. Of course, that left the General.

Percy slashed at Atlas who effortlessly knocked him back as the walls of the Titan palace rose. I summoned my blades afterwards, slashing at the Titan's legs, which was proven to be ineffective.

"Arina!" Zoë yelled when I was knocked into a rising pillar

I shook the stars out of my vision, pushing myself into a standing position before joining the fight once more.

Much to my surprise, and shock, Artemis jumped in as well. With a glance to the side, I saw Percy had taken the burden of the sky and was struggling to hold it up.

I continued to fight, knowing Percy was strong enough to hold up the sky. As well, I could tell Artemis had a plan as she shifted forms from a tiger to a falcon.

Atlas knocked Artemis to the ground, prepared to strike the killing blow before Zoë shot an arrow in the centre of his forehead. It didn't do much besides angering him, which resulted in him flinging his daughter to the side.

"Zoë!" I cried out, shadow travelling over to my friend by impulse.

I found her on the ground, she was weak and I then realized the large wound on her side. It was from Landon, she was poisoned.

I heard yelling from the back as I tried to figure out what to do. _Do I have ambrosia? No, dammit! The ONE time I need it, and I can't find any!_ I kept on thinking of a way to heal her, but the poison from Landon was weakening her by the second, and the blow must've done much worse.

Artemis appeared by my side, scooping up her fallen huntress, tears in her eyes.

There were monsters down below, ready to attack us at will, but miraculously, Annabeth's father showed up. He was in his biplane, shooting all the monsters, who then turned into dust.

"Brave man," Artemis said rather begrudgingly.

She then blew on a horn, not sure where she had it, and a silver chariot came towards us pulled by the most magnificent deers I have ever seen.

We all clambered aboard the ride before Artemis pulled us away.

A million thoughts went through my mind as we flew, landing in Crissy Fields. All of them were about how to heal Zoë. However, I came to the conclusion it was hopeless. We had no nectar or ambrosia, and regular medicine can't cure anything she had. Poison from an ancient beast and a fatal blow from her father.

The prophecy was referring to her, '_One shall perish by a parent's hand'_, she knew all along, and she still insisted on coming along. She continued to lead the quest to her death, it was inevitable. The Fates willed it, and now she's dying.

"Can-can't you heal her?" Percy asked as we all stared at Zoë's body.

"No, the Fates had cut her string, there is no defying fate," Artemis said grimly.

Zoë said some things to the others while my mind was filled with memories of us together. The first time we met, she and the hunters saved my life. We laughed, we talked, she was one of my best friends.

I let her fight Landon on her own, _how could I do that? _Maybe she would've had a chance if I helped her back there? Maybe there would be a possibility of-

"There's nothing you could have done, Arina," Artemis looked at me, reading my thoughts.

"You were right about Luke, all men-" Thalia stated, blinking back tears.

"Not all men," Zoë glanced at Percy, "You still have the sword?"

Percy took it out of his pocket and held it out quietly.

"You were r-r-right, you are nothing like Hercules. I am honoured that you wield that weapon." A shudder ran through her body.

"Zoë-"

"Stars, I can see the stars again, my lady," Zoë's eyes remained fixated on the sky above us.

Artemis' eyes glistened with tears, "Yes, they are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," was the last thing she said. Then, her body was still.

Thalia bowed her head while Annabeth choked back a sob, comforted by her father. I felt someone put an arm around me, I leaned against them as I wiped away the tears on my face. The person I leaned against, Percy, was speechless. We stood together, mourning the loss of our friend.

Artemis cupped her lieutenant's face, whispering some words in another language. Moments later, Zoë's body disappeared. Artemis then blew into her hands, silvery sparkles flew out and headed towards the sky.

One second, nothing happened, the next, a new sparkling constellation appeared in the sky. It looked like a girl, running with a bow in hand.

"Let the world honour you, my huntress," Artemis said, "Live forever in the stars."

* * *

Artemis couldn't bring her with us herself, but she sent some help along the way. By help, I meant four pegasuses, three white ones and a black one that seemed oddly familiar.

Turns out Percy could talk to pegasuses, not much to my surprise. His father is the father of the first pegasus, Pegasus. He is also the father of horses.

The pegasus agreed to fly us to Mount Olympus, of course, Mr. Chase couldn't come along though. After a short farewell between father and daughter, we were off.

Thalia was asleep the whole time while my other friends talked to each other. I didn't feel like talking, so I just listened to them.

"Luke's alive, I'm sure of it," Annabeth told us.

"Annabeth, you saw the fall," Percy said.

While I was with Zoë, Luke fell to his apparent death, but I knew he didn't die. A Hades' kid thing.

"Annabeth's right, he's not dead," I agreed with her.

"How can you guys be sure?"

"The same way you knew I wasn't dead," Annabeth replied to him.

Judging by the look on his face, this was the exact opposite of what he wants to hear. Percy knew she was alive by a feeling, possibly a romantic one, and if Annabeth still had feelings for Luke, that would make him majorly jealous.

Soon after, Thalia woke up, alerting us we had arrived at Olympus.

"The winter solstice, the Council of the Gods," she said.

Olympus was stunning, possibly more beautiful than the last time I was here two years ago. Demigods, gods, nymphs, and what not wandered the streets as enticing smells wafted towards us. It looked spectacular, the white marble walls and such.

The pegasuses landed in front of the big, silver gates, bidding us farewell.

We stood together by the entrance, much as we did at Westover. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis greeted in her fifteen-foot form.

All the gods were fifteen feet tall, sitting in their respected thrones in a U-formation like the cabins in Camp Half-Blood. Each was designed to complement them, holding attributes towards the gods themselves.

"You made it!" Grover exclaimed, standing beside a bubble of water that contained Bessie.

_Guess he had to escort the monster here_, I thought quickly before observing the other gods.

Zeus was sitting in the centre with his pin-striped suit, a silver-haired and elegant goddess beside him. _Hera_, I recognized once I saw the peacock-like designs on her robes. Beside her were the rest of the goddesses, Demeter, Athena, judging by her likeness to Annabeth, and Aphrodite. On the other side of the room sat the male gods, like Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, Apollo, Dionysus, and Ares.

One thing I noticed was my father wasn't here, which I found was odd. He was permitted to come to the winter solstice, but why wasn't he here? Could he be in the Underworld assuring the- my sister. He's probably fast-passing her to Elysium at this moment, maybe that's why he's not here.

Grover hugged us after Zeus allowed him, saying something to Percy I couldn't catch.

"Heroes," Artemis began, stepping down from her throne and transforming back to our height. She walked towards us, a moonlight beam shining upon her.

"The Council has been informed about your deeds on Mount Othrys. They know it is rising, Atlas' temporary escape, the gatherings of Kronos' army, and are ready to act."

Artemis informed us of their next plan of action. She and Apollo would hunt down all the rising monsters to the best of their abilities, Athena would check on the rest of the Titans, and Poseidon would unleash the horrors of the ocean upon Princess Andromeda, the ship filled with Kronos' army.

She also believed we had done many services for Olympus, but I guess not all the gods agreed with that statement. Especially a certain god Percy and I beat up.

Before Apollo could say a rather bad haiku, Hermes interrupted him and asked if all the gods agreed in not disintegrating us all.

"Hey, how can we trust these three?" Ares gestured to us all, minus Grover and Annabeth. "They're dangerous and should be dealt with now."

"They have served us well, I will not allow you to blast my son," Poseidon argued.

"Nor my daughter, she had done well," Zeus agreed.

Thalia blushed, looking at her feet. She probably wasn't used to the praise.

"However, she might be a different story," Zeus pointed to me.

A felt a deep resentment grow in my stomach by the way he looked at me. How could _I_ be a different story? I'm the same as Percy and Thalia, and to add to that, I'm _younger_ than them both!

"Brother, you know what would happen if you kill her," Poseidon warned him. "Her father might change his mind and kill yours as well,"

They kept on negotiating our death, Athena speaking up and warning the council the possible danger of the Great Prophecy.

Fortunately enough, I don't think my friends have caught on at I'm a daughter of Hades. However, I'll be surprised if Annabeth doesn't realize by the end of the night by the obvious hints being thrown around by the Olympians.

Eventually, they agreed on sparing us. Somehow, Artemis managed to persuade her father. However, I saw the panicked look on Percy's face as she whispered into Zeus' ear.

"Annabeth," Percy whispered to her, "don't."

I knew what he was thinking, he thought Artemis was going to offer Annabeth a spot in the Hunt. However, I had an odd feeling he was going to be pleasantly wrong.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus, will you join the Hunt and become the next lieutenant?" Artemis asked my cousin.

The room was stunned into silence before Thalia replied, "I will,"

Zeus was about to convince her to back out of it, but she said that the prophecy wasn't her's. She claimed she would never turn sixteen, despite the next day being her birthday, and join Artemis in the Hunt.

After taking the oath, she surprised us by hugging us each, Percy, Annabeth, myself, and Grover, who looked ready to faint, _again_.

"We still need to deal with the Ophiotaurus,"

Percy advocated for its protection instead, saying that they would be just like the Titans' if they kill it. He suggested that it could be kept under the sea with his father, or here on Olympus to be watched by them. On the other hand, the gods didn't see it that way.

They warned us about how Kronos had two years to deceive us, or more directly, Percy. Athena seemed the most against letting Percy remain free and alive.

Everyone then began to vote on what should happen next, either kill us and the monster or spare us. Thankfully, the majority voted to spare us and the beast.

Much to us demigods shock, there was a party held after.

I've been to quite a few parties growing up, birthday parties, school dances, etc. However, nothing could top Olympian parties. Amazing music, great food, and goblets that filled with whatever drink we wanted? Count me in.

Gods kept on congratulating Percy and avoiding me, whispering things about my father as I drank from my goblet. I didn't mind, I just had to accept the fact my father is one of the most disliked gods on Olympus.

I saw Percy weave through the ground, stopping to talk Hermes, Apollo, and even his father before being warned by Athena, by the looks of it. Unfortunately, she caught me looking and flashed towards me.

"Lady Athena," I greeted dryly.

"You may be angry with me, but I am right. You and Perseus are dangerous and should be dealt with. I'm surprised your father even _considered _your mother," Athena elaborated.

"Yes, my mother's the worst," I grumbled, crossing my arms.

"Not that, but he has remained more faithful than my father and Poseidon," Athena stated before disappearing into the crowds once more.

I watched the gods and nymphs mingle around, seeing the occasional demigod here and there.

"Enjoying the view?" I turned, seeing a dark-haired boy with an eye patch beside me.

"I would rather be elsewhere," I replied, sipping my drink.

"I agree, parties for Olympians are always so... self-absorb," the boy agreed with me.

I stared at the boy, he looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place where. Nonetheless, I pushed away the feeling of recognition, it being a rather familiar feeling. I can't name how many people/gods I've met that looked recognizable.

He caught me staring and smirk, "Enjoying _this_ view better?"

I blushed before replying, "Nah, just wondering about that eye patch."

"Oh," he adjusted his patch, "my mother needed an eye."

I raised my eyebrow, confused. Why would his mother need an eye? Why his?

"Who's your mother?"

"Nemesis," he stated.

"Goddess of revenge," I recalled.

"Yeah, what about you? Have a godly parent, or are you secretly a goddess?" He inquired curiously.

"Hm... it's a secret," I smiled. "Try to guess," I winked before walking away from him.

* * *

Argus drove us all back to Camp Half-Blood after the party through the light blizzard.

"So, Arina, who was that guy you were talking to?" Annabeth nudged me gently, causing me to blush.

"J-just some kid of Nemesis," I stuttered in reply.

"Ooh, someone has a crush," she teased.

"Oh, like your crush on P-"

"SHUSH!" She turned bright red, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else as we continued our ride to Camp Half-Blood.

Once at camp, we trudged up the hill, being greeted by Chiron who gave us hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches.

We all sat in the warm Big House with the other head counsellors, even Clarisse was back from her quest. We went over what happened on the quest, talking about Thalia joining Artemis and Luke's possibly survival, which was proven by Percy's father.

"I hope the prophecy is not referring to you Percy, two years can go by quickly," Chiron risked a glance at me, implying he hoped it wasn't about me either.

Chiron explained to Percy how Kronos was going strike the camp first, us being the tools to the gods. Destroy the tools, and Olympus falls. However, he was interrupted by someone.

Nico burst into the parlour, taking deep breaths and looking around. He looked happy and somewhat anxious. It almost broke my heart hearing what he said next.

"Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

Us questers looked at Chiron. He must have not told my brother yet, and I dreaded this moment since her death.

"Nico," I stood up with Percy, "let's talk."

We went outside, Percy explaining along the way of what happened and led to our sister's demise. We kept on walking, Nico and I not saying anything as we arrived at the dining pavilion.

"She wanted you to have this," Percy handed Nico a Mythomagic figurine.

Nico stared at it, his grip tightening on it before saying, "You promised you'll protect her."

I could tell those words had hurt my friend by the look on his face, but I couldn't come up with any words of comfort.

"Nico, I tried but-"

"You promised! My nightmares were right!" _Wait... what nightmares?_

"What nightmares?" Percy voiced my inner thoughts.

"I hate you!" He threw the statue onto the ground in anger.

I tried to think of something to calm him down, I didn't want him to do something he would regret. Our powers are influenced by our emotions, and I didn't want his anger to result in him hurting anyone.

"She might still be alive-"

"No, she isn't, I should have known earlier. I could feel it now, she's standing before the judges right now." My brother closed his eyes as I felt the same thing.

I could imagine Bianca standing in front of Minos, the judge, deciding where she should remain. I knew she would be admitted to Elysium, per request of our father and the fact she was a huntress, but that didn't make it any better.

"What do you mean?" Before my brother could answer, I heard a familiar clattering noise, whipping around to see the remaining skeleton warriors behind us.

"You sent these to kill me?" Nico exclaimed in anger and hurt, casting me a look of betrayal.

I tried to send him a mental message, attempting to explain that I was _still_ on his side, but we both couldn't read each other's minds, unfortunately.

"Nico! Get back!" Percy yelled as we both summoned our weapons.

"No! I don't trust you!"

"Nico, listen to him!" I finally found my voice, preparing to attack.

Percy and I struggled to hold off the skeletons, more advancing as I destroyed them. Much to my horror, Nico opened up a crevice and swallowed up the leftover skeletons.

Percy stared at my brother in shock, "How did-"

"I hate you!" My brother screamed, "I wish you were dead!"

I was worried for a split second that would actually happen, judging from the rage on his face, but fortunately, we all stayed in the pavilion.

Nico turned, running towards the forest, tears evident in his eyes. Percy and I were about to run after him before he slipped on something.

The fear grew in my stomach when Percy picked up the thing he slipped on. It was the figurine, but not just of any god. My father.

He stared, wide-eyed at the figurine before turning to me.

I did the only thing I could think of, I shadow travelled away.


	17. Avoiding my issues like normal

**(A/N: Hey everyone! Just for you guys to know, I might not be able to update this story next week or a week after because I'll be busy with my school play. Just a warning, hope you enjoy this new chapter!)**

**(WARNING: I'm not trying to make fun of any Canadians in this chapter, I'm just trying to use a general stereotype. I'm Canadian myself so sorry if I'm offending any other Canadians out there)**

Okay, shadow travelling out of camp might have not been my brightest idea, taking into account the last time I shadow travelled across the country, I knocked myself out and was found half a week later near Zeus' Fist. Hey, it was quick thinking.

I shadow travelled to the Underworld, the only place I could think of at that moment, and interrupted a romantic dinner between my father and Persephone.

"AH!" I fell behind a chair, landing on my back and hitting my head on the ground after.

"Arina?" I shook my head, shaking away the feeling of dizziness and saw my father and my step-mother stare at me, shocked.

"Um... hi?"

"What are you doing here?" My father inquired.

I pushed myself into a standing position, instantly feeling dizzy the moment I stood up from the sudden head rush.

"Um... well, Nico, kinda, sorta..." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously with an awkward laugh.

"Arina, what happened?" Persephone questioned.

I quickly explained what happened, how Bianca had died on the quest and Nico swore revenge against Percy. I also mentioned how he revealed we were children of Hades before we both ran away.

Hades sighed, rubbing his temples, "We both avoid our problems..." he grumbled.

"Arina, why don't you go lie down in your room? From what you said, shadow travelling across the country isn't the best idea, especially including the fact you hadn't had a proper rest in days." Persephone suggested to me gently.

I looked at my father, who was deep in thought, before turning and scurrying out of the room.

I went down the twisting and turning halls, eventually finding my room. Once inside, I collapsed onto my bed, instantly passing out the moment my head touched the pillow.

* * *

I didn't return to Camp Half-Blood for a while after, which was good. According to Alecto, a lot of campers were shocked, even _angry_ that there was another child of the Big Three roaming camp. Of course, being the daughter of Hades, the most disliked god, didn't help the situation at all.

Therefore, I decided to remain in the Underworld until the heat down died at the camp.

No one knew I was hiding out in the Underworld except for the Olympians because otherwise, they think I joined forces with Kronos, and Chiron, who simply Iris-Messaged me.

"When do you think you will return?" The centaur asked me as I sparred with a spartoi.

Since my sister's death, my father has been pushing me to become the next prophesied child. He even told me the prophecy, which was worse than I had originally thought.

_'A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_ Shall reach sixteen against all odds _

_ And see the world in endless sleep_

_ The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_ A single choice shall end his days_

_ Olympus to preserve or raze'_ was this great prophecy Percy or I could be apart of.

I don't see remotely how it could have been me or Thalia, the prophecy literally says _'he'_, it could be referring to a male. However, my dad thinks it could be referring to Kronos or something else.

In my opinion, I'm glad Percy's older than me in this case.

"I'm not sure," I replied to Chiron after a lengthy pause.

"We know Luke's forces will attack us this summer, and you ther-"

"To reap the souls and control the monsters? Yeah, that seems like _so_ much fun," I stated with an eye roll.

I parried another swipe from the skeleton, stabbing it in the chest before stepping back so I wouldn't be caught in the flames.

"Arina, not everyone here is afraid of you,"

"But how many people hate me? Definitely the whole Ares cabin still, probably some annoying Apollo campers too." I grumbled, summoning another monster to fight.

I summoned a ker this time, a creature that feeds on violent death and something else. A worthy opponent to practice my umbrakinesis on.

I shot several shadows at it, forming multiple shields around myself as I dodged attacks from the creature. It tried shooting poison at me, but I used the shields and reflected the poison on itself before shadow travelling behind and shooting a large shadow into the centre of its body.

"People hated Percy, but they liked him once again-"

"After he succeeded in that damn quest for Zeus' lightning bolt," I spat, ending the IM swiftly, heading out to get something to eat.

I found my step-mother talking to Demeter through an Iris-Message in our kitchen. I heard something about cereal before I decided to leave, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping.

I travelled over to Elysium, passing by the Fields of Punishment and teasing Tantalus from his little island. He glared at me, wanting to grab me but a Fury stopped him.

Once in Elysium, I snuck in and wandered among the shades laughing and talking lividly to each other as if they weren't dead. Eventually, I found the two I wanted to talk to.

"Arina!" my sister jumped up from her picnic and ran towards me, hugging me.

Yes, ghosts can hug people, well, long as they're children of Hades, I guess.

"Hey Bianca, hey Zoë," I greeted them before joining them in their picnic.

Zoë had technically been admitted into Elysium as well as the heavens, but she preferred Elysium, which was where all her friends and fallen comrades were.

"How's training?" Bianca inquired as she sat down between Zoë and I.

"Ugh, it sucks, and how is dad so sure I'm next?" I grumbled with my arms crossed.

"Thy still has time," Zoë reminded me, taking a sip of whatever they were having.

I guess I could eat ghost food, but it's too much work and I'm tired from training and summoning monster after monster.

"Did Chiron find Nico yet?" I told my sister about how Nico ran away, which deeply worried her. She thinks it's her fault and everything, but it's not.

"No, apparently Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are looking for us both still," I replied, lying back onto the grassy hill.

"Maybe-"

"I don't want to talk to any of them, they're probably better off without me," I stated.

Whenever I visited her and Zoë, they were always convincing me that I should talk to the others and resolve junk, but of course, I never listened. They just think I'm stubborn, but I'm really not.

"You probably made Grover faint, _again_," Bianca pointed-out with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, definitely," I nodded in agreement.

We also filled Grover in on the blessing we got from Pan, which resulted in something weird to happen. He fainted, and when he woke up, he swore he heard Pan say _'I await you_', which made him go off again on another trip, I think.

"At least Chiron knows thee is not dead," Zoë said with a nod.

"Yeah, but he keeps on calling me and asking when I'm coming back, it's _so_ annoying," I muttered in exasperation.

"He means well,"

"Well, I wish he didn't,"

* * *

I managed to get my dad to let me go to school because I haven't had a proper education in years, not counting what Chiron taught me as anything. It took about three months until he relented.

I don't like school that much, especially teachers who think they know what's best for you, but school is helpful in ways. Social skills are built, and you get to learn valuable mathematics skills.

Currently, one of the Furies was driving me to a new school after spring break.

"You know what to do?" Tisiphone, the Fury that was escorting me, questioned.

"Yeah, use the Mist and make them think I'm a new exchange student from Canada," I replied, eyeing the road outside.

The sidewalks were filled with teenagers and kids going to school, messing around and laughing with each other. For some reason, this made me jealous of how all my friends were either at Camp Half-Blood or New York.

"If there's a monster, just kill it, Alecto would deal with the paperwork," she advised before dropping me off in the front.

I slipped out of the car, adjusting my backpack before walking towards the entrance of the school.

After several minutes of manipulating the Mist, I managed to trick the administration staff that I was a new student just as we planned. It was easy to fool the rest of the teachers that came my way.

I was put into a regular grade eight class, but I felt somewhat left out because I was new. I befriended one other new kid though.

"Hi, I'm Piper," the girl introduced herself after I was sent by the teacher to sit beside her in the back of the class.

"Arina," I replied.

"You're from Canada?" she inquired curiously.

Something about this girl seemed different compared to the rest of the kids here. Her scent appeared distinct, however, I had a feeling she wasn't a monster.

"Yep," I stated.

"Cool, what's it like there?"

I paused, thinking. To be honest, I've never been to Canada before, but I knew it was snowy and had good poutine.

"Um, cold," I guess the weather's kinda like New York with the snow.

"Really?" she gasped sarcastically.

"What about you?

"I lived in San Francisco," she seemed to be hiding something when she said that, but I ignored it.

"Cool," I knew San Francisco was banned for half-bloods because of the monster activity, but my dad said there was another reason the gods won't talk about.

After our small conversation, the class began.

As expected, the teacher and I hated each other. He thought I was rude and disrespectful for constantly tapping my feet, and I just found him plain annoying.

_Not my fault I have ADHD... _I thought, glaring at him as he handed out our first assignment.

"And Arina, if you don't understand anything, put your hand up _politely_," Mr. Bradford, my teacher, stated in a condescending way.

I looked down at my sheet and scribbled in my answers to the simple math questions.

"Why does he hate you so much?" Piper asked me quietly as he made his rounds.

"Not sure," _maybe I can mess with the Mist and make him like me..._ I thought optimistically. However, that might not work if he's clearsighted.

We continued working until lunch break. Unfortunately, some flirty girls came over, giggling about both Piper and I.

"So Piper, gonna do a rain dance today?" the leader of the group, Abby, inquired with a laugh.

Apparently, Piper was part Cherokee, which was somehow amusing for the other girls here. Yeah, big deal, do the rich, snobby girls have anything interesting about them?

"Honestly, Arina, how can a girl like you befriend her?" Eva, the snarky second-in-command questioned.

"What's that suppose to me?"

"Well, look at your-"

"Are you seriously being that racist?" I exclaimed, standing up from my table.

I was shorter than her, as expected, but I still scared her either way.

Hmm... guess my father was right about scaring people with only one glance.

The girls looked at each other before running off, mumbling weird stuff and calling me a freak for hanging out with Piper.

"You didn't have to do that," Piper stated.

"And let them push us around? Ha, fat chance, I'm done getting bullied and teased." I plopped back down in my seat and began to eat my lunch.

From that day forth, Piper and I became close friends. We talked about annoying teachers and students, big tests, and even the occasional boy or two. We shared a lot of things with each other, but I didn't talk about being a demigod for obvious reasons, and I could tell she was hiding something from me too.

* * *

It was the last day before the summer break, and Piper and I were parting ways. She said she had some stuff to deal with within the school, and I told her I had to go back to Canada.

"We should keep in touch," she suggested.

"Um... how?"

It wasn't safe to call each other, mainly because monsters would be insanely attracted to me more than usual. It's like waving candy fumes towards a class of kindergarteners.

"Well, I don't have a phone," Piper stated, "we can email each other?"

Were emails bad too? I think so, and I didn't own a computer either.

"I don't have an email, but we can do the barbaric way of sending letters," I proposed instead.

"I guess that could work," she seemed uncomfortable about the idea in general, but it was the only option now.

We quickly exchanged addresses, her address seeming as vague as mine. I said DOA Recording Studio, and she said some weird one that sounded like the San Francisco Bay area, but I didn't question it.

"Maybe we'll see each other again," I waved goodbye to her before slipping into my car.

"See ya!" she called back before turning around and heading back into the school.

Halfway to the Underworld entrance, Alecto asked me an odd question.

"Who was your teacher for the past couple of months?"

"Um... Mr. Bradford was my homeroom, Miss Aragon was my science and socials, this other teacher for the rest of my classes,"

"Did you notice anything... odd about these teachers?"

"Um... no? Why?" her questions made me uneasy. Was one of my teachers secretly a god? Demigod? A servant of Kronos?

"I caught a scent, it smelled like a monster, and several monsters have been terrorizing the camp you go to."

"Oh... well, I'm alive, aren't I?"

I thought back to how Piper ran back into the school. She was interested in the teachers from the beginning, maybe she knew something I didn't? Maybe she was a half-blood that was sent here by the gods to fight a monster of some sort?

I felt the urge to go back and check, but if she was a half-blood, there would be a satyr to help her, and she seemed perfectly capable of handling herself. She didn't need anybody's help, worrying won't do me any good.

"Your father was-"

"Yes, I know, I haven't decided yet."

My father has been pestering me about my decision to go back to camp or not, and I was holding back. Chiron said he'll call me when the summer session started, and I would make my decision then.

Did I want to go back? Of course I do, all my friends were there and it was a whole lotta fun. However, were the rest of the campers going to accept me? I am the daughter of Hades.

"Your father-"

"Wants to know by tonight, I'm quite aware, Alecto," I stated as we parked outside of DOA Recording Studio.

"Because you insist on interrupting me, you have to get in yourself," and with that, she flashed away.

I rolled my eyes before focussing on the shadows and reappearing in my room.

"Arina?"

I turned and saw Chiron waiting patiently over the water fountain in my room.

My step-mother suggested I should have a fountain in here to keep in touch with whoever I want, but I guess it's another excuse for the Olympians to spy on me if needed.

Since the reveal of my father, the council worries Kronos might use me against the gods, and practically begged my father to spy on me. They were worried someone might've informed Kronos of my parentage, and now his army is after me.

"Chiron," I greeted in return, throwing my school bag onto the ground beside my dresser.

"Have you made your choice yet?" I flopped back onto my bed, contemplating my options.

I could stay in the Underworld and train vigorously for the oncoming battle next year, or I could return to Camp Half-Blood and do the same. However, in the Underworld, spirits bow down at my feet, while on the surface, demigods would either hate me, be scared of me, or just plain up ignore me.

"How's the camp now that they know?"

"Annabeth wants a quest sent out for you," he answered.

I shook my head, of course she did. Annabeth was one of my best friends, she would be worried sick if I didn't return to camp ever since my abrupt departure.

"What about the others?"

"Percy has freshmen orientation," he wasn't mentioning the rest of the camp, which seemed to confirm my fears.

"What about the others?" I repeated.

"Most of the head counsellors are okay with it, and same with some-"

"You said 'most' and 'some', not all," I pointed-out.

"They will grow use-"

"That took a quest for Percy, I'm the daughter of Hades, it'll take me a war," I grumbled.

"Arina, give camp a chance, and with the oncoming battles, we will need you. Your friends miss you, and you miss them. Please return to camp," Chiron said.

I took a deep breath, finally complying.

"Fine, I'll see you in a couple of days," with that, the message ended and I was alone in my room once more.

* * *

My father let me go, so after I packed and such, I left.

I decided shadow travel would be the quickest and easiest option, although it was pretty dangerous as well. I could end up unconscious by Zeus' Fist days later, I could pass out in New York instead, I might even get kidnapped by some hungry giants.

Before I left, I played with Cerberus, which was oddly relaxing, then, I left.

I felt myself flying through a dark tunnel before my feet landed firmly on the ground outside a grove of trees. Unfortunately, I wasn't alone.

There was an Aethiopian drakon, and once it saw me, it mentally said _'lunch'_.


	18. Another quest ugh

** (A/N: Sorry I haven't updated, I was busy and junk. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter that's hopefully not too rushed!)**

I stared at the drakon, thinking of how it was such a _wonderful_ coincidence that I ended up here. Just _spectacular_.

_Hey there, ugly, _I greeted mentally.

Did I mention I could telepathically talk to monsters? Yeah, they could do my bidding too, turns out. Well, some.

_Hm... you smell delicious, _it replied to me, grinning? Can drakons even _grin_?

I summoned my blades, but unfortunately, the exhaustion finally hit me at that moment. I felt off-balanced and light-headed all of a sudden.

"Run!" I heard someone yell, prompting me to do so.

I ran up the hill, hearing the drakon yell things that were rather inappropriate and chasing after me. Once at the top of the hill, passed the barrier, the monster stopped, growling before sinking back to the bottom of the hill.

"Nice to see you again, Arina." At that moment, I saw the whole Apollo cabin armed with bows surrounding the perimeter of the camp.

"Nice to see you too, Michael," I replied before heading down to the Big House.

As I walked towards the building, I heard whispering around me. When I looked, I saw several campers from multiple cabins giving me odd looks, like fear and hatred. Understandable, though, I am a daughter of Hades.

When I arrived at the Big House, I only found Chiron but no Mr. D. I wasn't sure if I should've been relieved, or slightly worried.

"Arina! It's good you're back!" Chiron exclaimed when he saw me.

"Eh," I shrugged while looking around at the camp.

"Most of the campers are heading to breakfast now if you want to join them."

"Percy and Annabeth are here, right?" I confirmed.

"Yes,"

I nodded my head before walking towards the Dining Pavilion.

Chiron galloped up behind me. "You are welcomed to stay in the Hermes cabin if you would like, or the Big House if that suits you-"

"Attendance is down, isn't it?" I speculated as I noticed the drastic decrease in camp activities around me.

When I first came to camp, the place was bustling with half-bloods. Now, it seems and _feels_ like a ghost town, and I know what those feel like.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. We believe some went to join Kronos' army, some might've died, and others, we do not know."

Once in the Dining Pavilion, a hush fell over all of the lines as they saw me. I saw friendly faces, but not enough to make me happy that I'm back.

I noticed a new person at the head table as I slipped into the Hermes' line. He seemed old, and he smelled quite... familiar.

Okay, I admit that sounds weird, like Mr. D getting your name right or Zeus being faithful weird. However, this guy's scent seemed awfully familiar, and I had a feeling it wasn't anything good.

"Nice to have you back," someone slapped me on the back, prompting me to turn.

"Nice to see you too, Travis," I greeted my head counsellor.

"Hey," to my surprise, Eliza was heading with us to the Hermes' table.

"You've been claimed?"

"Nope, Chiron says I'm here under... special circumstances," she answered cryptically.

I nodded my head before grabbing some food and walking over to the brazier for my burnt offering.

"Arina?"

I turned, seeing Percy behind me with a look of shock on his face.

"Hey, Barnacle Boy,"

* * *

Not long after breakfast, I was tackled by Annabeth, _again_, before catching up with her and Percy. Apparently, she's been looking for me _everywhere_.

"I was in Los Angeles, jeez,"

"You were in LA the whole time? I was in San-"

"I don't know how you couldn't find me, Annie, like, where else would I run away too?" I questioned her as we sat together near the strawberry fields.

Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed as she sat, deep in thought.

"So why did you sit with Percy this morning? Or is there something going on between you two that I don't know about?" I teased my friends, causing them to both turn bright red in embarrassment.

"I was just telling him about," Annabeth glanced around before saying, "the Labyrinth."

"The Labyrinth? The thing the Minotaur lived in?"

"Yeah," they both began explaining what Annabeth told Percy this morning to me.

After their explanation, I felt worried about Grover. He could either give up on his quest, which he obviously shouldn't do, or go into the Labyrinth, which seemed dangerous. How would he even navigate it without Ariadne's string? How would he even get back here? Also, a demigod practically lost his mind while there, what will happen to poor Grover?

"What is he gonna do?" I questioned.

"Honestly, I dunno," Percy stated with the shake of his head.

"Like he wants to find Pan, but going underground? That seems a bit too ballsy for him, no offence," I pointed-out.

"Yeah..."

Not long after that, they went off to do their camp activities as I wandered around, wondering what I should do. Chiron didn't give me a schedule, and honestly, I didn't feel like asking him about it.

I wandered around camp saying hi to a couple of my friends, but mostly just stuck by myself, which wasn't that hard. When basically everyone hates or is scared of your father, you end up alone most of the time.

_Is that why most Hades children are loners?_ I thought to myself before I stumbled across a hellhound in the arena.

_Hi!_ the hellhound greeted me enthusiastically.

This may come as a shock to you, but my first instinct was not to attack the monster. Living in the Underworld gives you vast respect towards hellhounds, especially when your dad owns one that has three heads and it guards the gate of the Underworld.

"Hi there," I patted the monster's head, having to jump to reach its head.

"Huh, most campers are scared of her, well, not Percy, of course."

I turned around, seeing a man that I recognized as the new swordsmen trainer the others told me about. He was walking towards me with a couple of bewildered and possibly frightened campers.

"Hellhounds like me," I elaborated as the monster tried getting my attention again.

"Hm, seems like Mrs. O'Leary does," Quintus agreed with me. "You kids are dismissed, go on to your next activities!"

The kids ran off then, appearing to want to put as much distance they can between themselves and Mrs. O'Leary, or rather me.

"Who are you anyway? I don't think we have any classes,"

"I'm Arina," I introduced as Mrs. O'Leary got bored of me and started chewing on a practice dummy lazily.

Quintus eyebrows raised, "Daughter of Hades?"

"Yeah," I replied before continuing out of the arena while an odd sense of unease grew in my stomach.

Something about him just... seems off.

I proceeded to think about it until late afternoon when I met up with Silena for a quick riding session on some pegasi.

"How are things between you and Beckendorf?" I inquired as I saddled up on a pegasus named Porkpie, who seemed visibly frightened of me.

Gods, now pegasi are scared of me? Don't tell me all the nature spirits are too!

"Well, there's nothing between us at all. My cabin members think I should just use my powers or something to make him like me, but I want it to be genuine." She admitted as we went up.

"Who gave you that crap advice?"

"Hey,"

"Ugh... you know most of your cabinmates are jerks right? Like Drew, for example, she's so abusive towards her power." I complained as we soared over the woods.

"I get that, but they're still my siblings,"

"Half-siblings," I corrected her as we saw lines of demigods file towards the Dining Pavilion,

"C'mon, let's just head back," and with that, we descended back towards the stables.

Once we finished cleaning up, we raced towards the Dining Pavilion, joining our respected lines for dinner.

* * *

Turns out, we had a 'special' activity planned for that night that only meant one thing. Fighting, monsters, and competition.

Quintus split us into pairs, and I ended up with someone that wasn't terrified or hated my guts. Eliza, the girl I helped rescued from Westover Hall in the winter.

The game was simple, get a silk package with a laurel inside from the monster. There were six monsters, and each one had a package. However, only one of them had a laurel inside. Point is, get it and not die, y'know, average teenage stuff.

I wasn't an excellent tracker, so I left that to Eliza while I created false trails from our competitors to follow once the games started.

"What kind of monster do you think it is?" I asked her as we passed the creek in the woods.

"Well, there were crates in the arena this morning. Mid-afternoon, they were gone. I bet whatever was inside is out now."

"Really? I thought it was in our dinner?" I gasped sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes before silencing me, looking around carefully before bringing out her broadsword.

There was a rustling in the bushes not too far from where we were followed by yelling and fighting. The voices sounded familiar, so I went to them.

"Arina!"

I arrived by Zeus' Fist and saw three scorpions surrounding it, but no one there. They were all pushing around the cluster of boulders before noticing me.

"What the- oh Styx," Eliza had caught up to me, staring in awe at the scorpions.

"G-guess one of these guys has the laurel, right?" I summoned my blades.

"Unfortunately, yes," and with that, we had to fight three scorpion monsters.

Fortunately for us, we weren't alone for much longer. Not too long after, the Stoll brothers came by looking for the monsters too and ended up helping us take them down.

"No laurels, that's disappointing," I stated with the shake of my head after we examined the silk packages.

"How did you even come across not one, but _three_ monsters?" Travis questioned.

"Dunno,"

"I followed her over here,"

Then, a conch sounded, signalling the end of the game.

We all headed back to the beginning of the woods, seeing Clarisse standing proudly with the laurels with the rest of our competition.

"Okay, that's unfair, we fought _three_ monsters and didn't get a laurel! How did you get one?" Connor quizzed her.

"How did you get three?" Now Quintus was surprised.

"I thought I heard Annabeth and Percy yelling and found three scorpions around Zeus' Fist." I elaborated with a shrug.

"Where are Annabeth and Percy, anyway?"

We looked around and saw the duo nowhere in sight. At first, I wasn't that worried. However, after an hour of searching, I was getting concerned.

"Percy! Annabeth!" Tyson yelled as we checked Zeus' Fist again.

By some miracle, those two crawled out from behind some boulders.

"Where the Hades have you two been?" I exclaimed, running towards them.

"What do you mean?" Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, confused.

"You guys have been missing for over an hour!" Clarisse elaborated as the rest of the search party arrived.

"No way, we've only been gone for like what, two minutes?"

"Where have you been?" I repeated with my arms crossed.

"We fell in a hole," Percy said.

I raised my eyebrows at that, skeptical.

"Seriously! Three scorpions were after us and-"

"So it was you, you guys were here," I stated.

"What do you mean?" he looked confused.

Before I could explain further, Annabeth and Clarisse had a cryptic conversation which led to the rest of us getting sent to bed. However, I did hear one clear thing before leaving.

Whatever those two found, Luke was after. If Luke was after something, it couldn't mean anything good.

"Maybe it was some ancient monster," Travis suggested as we got ready for bed.

After we were all sent to bed, I revealed my discovery to my friends in the Hermes cabin. These kids may be crooks, thieves, and unclaimed half-bloods, but they've grown to be my family. Well, the ones that have been here since I first started three years ago.

"What would Luke want with a monster? And if it was a monster, y'know Percy would be dumb enough to pick a fight with it." I pointed-out to him.

"Ooh, maybe it's the entrance to the Labyrinth!" Eliza suggested from above me.

Due to the rapidly declining number of demigods, I have been given back my old bottom bunk and Eliza is now the top. Do I know what happened to my old top bunker? Nope, I don't remember there being one anyway.

"Yeah, could be, and having it in the heart of the camp would be pretty bad." I agreed with a shrug.

"Pretty bad? It would suck, we only have eighty campers, we'll be swamped!" Connor exclaimed.

Just as we were going to continue speculating, one of the older campers yelled at us to 'shut up and get to sleep' before shutting off the lights.

_ (Dreams)_

_ I was running down a long, dark corridor, feeling confused and worried. I didn't know where I was going but I had a feeling I would be found soon._

_ "Hey! Get back here, demigod!"_

_ I turned, seeing a shadowy figure behind me. They advanced towards me, resulting in me bursting into a run. _

_ This creature was far from human judging from the slithering and hissing noises it made the closer it got to me, nearly catching me if it weren't for the walls changing and trapping it behind it. _

_ "You can't run forever!"_

_ My vision then faded and morphed to a camp much different than Camp Half-Blood. Everyone looked serious and ghosts moved in out of shadows easily._

_ "Honestly, Jason, I don't see why you keep on avoiding her. You like her, and she obviously-"_

_ "No, she doesn't. I'm from the Fifth! She's from the Third, why would she like me?" This reply came from a blond guy with a scar near his bottom lip._

_ The guy he was talking to had dark brown hair with subtle red highlights in it. He was the same height as the other guy but seemed to have more confidence._

_ "She'll like you no matter what cohort your in, just ask her and find out."_

_ "But-"_

_ "Dude, you're literally the son of Jupiter, girls would be lining up to _just_ be near you."_

_ Just then, a very familiar-looking girl appeared, laughing with two other girls._

_ "Really? She said that to her?" a girl with reddish-brown hair exclaimed, looking to be the oldest._

_ "Damn, you think she's a half-blood?" a girl with a feather in her hair questioned._

_ "Probably not, if she was, she would've come to camp already." The girl who said this seemed to be the leader of the trio, looking much more mature and serious than the other two._

_ "Hey, check it out, it's Reyna. How'd I look?" Just as the brown-haired guy said this, the scene shifted again. _

_I appeared in a place that seemed to be snowing. An Asian teenage boy hugged an older woman, presumably his mother, with tears in his eyes._

_ "I'll be fine."_

_ "But-"_

_ "It's only going to be ten months, then I'll be back," the lady promised her son._

_ The boy sighed, "Fine, just be safe."_

_ "I will,"_

_ The scene zoomed in on a figure in the distance with an army-like uniform._

_ "Hopefully you'll make it through this battle, unlike my brother's prediction."_

_ (Dream ended)_

* * *

Surprisingly, I was allowed to come to the war council meeting. Typically, only head counsellors were permitted, and any adults/gods interested. However, due to not having a cabin in general, they made an exception for me. As well, Grover was there with his dryad girlfriend, Juniper.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance. He knew everything about the camp," Annabeth said with noticeable pride in her voice.

"That's what I was trying to tell you last night!" Juniper went into a short explanation of how she saw Luke using it before.

The others continued talking as an idea formed in my head.

About three years ago, I went missing near Zeus' Fist. I was transported to the Underworld, but when I tried coming back, I went missing for days. What if I got trapped in the Labyrinth for that time? It would make perfect sense.

"Arina?"

"Huh?" I realized I ended up staring at Percy, resulting in both of us blushing.

"Did you want to add anything?" Chiron inquired.

"Um... no, not really," I had honestly no clue what they said.

"Then it's decided."

_What was decided?_

"Annabeth will lead the quest. It is time for your meeting with the Oracle."


	19. Good news: my friend's not dead!

** (A/N: Sorry that the last chapter was rushed and this one is late, I just wanted to give you guys something before the week ended. I'm also gonna alter this story arc a bit to make it slightly more original and junk. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter that's gonna have too many words in it bc my planning skills suck)**

"Arina, would you mind joining us too?" Annabeth offered.

Annabeth had just come back from the Oracle with a prophecy that seemed just as bad as the Great Prophecy. Now, she was offering if I wanted to join in on her quest with Percy, Tyson, and Grover.

"Um... sure?" I wasn't exactly excited about going. I just had a really bad feeling that something's going to go wrong on this quest, like the-end-of-the-world bad.

The next day, we embarked on our quest. We all met at Zeus' Fist, getting a rushed send-off as the Hephaestus cabin set up traps and junk around the entrance of the Labyrinth just in case.

I had packed a simple bag with a flask of nectar, a pouch of ambrosia, a dagger, rope, flashlights with extra batteries, drachmas, and a notebook that had a pen. I had promised both my sister and Zoë that I would write about what's happening in the world above and the gods.

"What's taking them so long?" I inquired, gesturing towards Chiron and Percy, who were talking together intently.

"I'll go check," Annabeth offered, walking to them.

"How's the ocean?" I asked Tyson, who I discovered was working in the forges underwater.

"Good," he replied.

A moment later, Percy and Annabeth returned.

"Ready?" Percy asked us.

"Goodbye sunshine," Grover said anxiously.

"Hello rocks," Tyson stated.

Into the maze we went, uncertain about what was to come.

* * *

So far, we were lost. We found a skeleton of a milkman if that's anything. Then, we came across Janus, the god of beginnings and endings. Afterwards, Hera offered us lunch. Of course, gods always give cryptic answers so all we got was food and her telling us Percy already knew the answer to finding Daedalus.

"What kind of answer was that?" Annabeth exclaimed angrily.

"You shouldn't say that about the queen of the gods," I pointed out.

Before she could counter, we heard rumbling come from one of the tunnels Hera opened up for us. Naturally, we ran for our lives towards the other one.

Eventually, we came across a spot to rest for the night, which we did. The first to fall asleep were Grover and Tyson while we demigods stayed up.

"How do you feel?" I asked Annabeth, sitting down beside her.

"First day leading a quest? Okay..." she trailed off, seeming lost in thought.

"You're doing just fine," Percy reassured her.

"I just wished it made the sense," she stated.

"It's a quest, we don't find out what any of it means until the end." I tied my hair up into a ponytail as I said this.

"You'll figure something out, you always do," Percy said in encouragement, "like Circe's Island."

"You made a cute guinea pig," she pointed out.

"You should've sent me a picture," I said.

"Well, you weren't telling us about being off on a quest either."

"It wasn't really a quest, I didn't even get a prophecy."

"You might've if you asked."

"It was a mission, that's all."

There was a lull in the conversation then. I looked around the room we were in, sensing the monsters lurking far from there. Hellhounds, centaurs, the works.

Percy and Annabeth continued talking, I could've joined in if I had anything to offer. They were just talking about what Percy knew that we didn't.

Then Annabeth went to sleep after a seemingly depressing conclusion to their discussion. Percy had offered to take watch.

"It's fine, I'm not tired. You go-ahead," I told Percy when he turned to me.

"You sure?"

"You'll need it more than me," I replied before he curled up on his bedroll and fell asleep.

I didn't want to deal with any more demigod dreams for starters, and I had realized at that moment I forgot to pack a bedroll myself. Aren't I a genius?

I sat there, not waking up the others to switch watches. I wasn't sleepy or anything so I assumed it was fine. I only pretended that I slept once the others started waking up one by one, having a breakfast consisting of granola bars and juice boxes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Percy questioned me as we delved further into the Labyrinth.

"Um... yeah, did you?"

Percy looked shaken up the moment he woke up and up until that point.

"Yes..."

"Demigod dreams?" I guessed.

"I rather not talk about it," he answered before we entered a cavern with a large pit in the centre.

"Smells like the Underworld," Grover commented, "no offence, Arina."

"None taken," I replied before looking into the grave.

Inside the grave were this bubbly brown liquid and a half-eaten hamburger. I instantly knew what it was, and only one other person could've been capable of this.

"My brother was here," I said before breaking into a run, Percy mimicking me.

"Guys!" Annabeth called out before she and the others chased after us.

I could sense my brother just by the dark aura he gave off. I haven't seen him since we told him his sister was dead and Bianca and I were worried. I knew he wasn't dead, I would've sensed it otherwise.

We eventually came up to the light, a bright red cow mooing at us from the other side of a grate. The others were talking about it before Tyson opened it by pushing against it, startling the cow behind it.

"Sorry cow!" Tyson yelled to it before we all crawled out of the Labyrinth, being blinded by the sunlight.

We looked around, discovering we ended up at some ranch. It was quite large, rolling hills and barbed wire everywhere. I felt an odd feeling grow in my stomach like something bad was going to happen. Unfortunately, this feeling was later on confirmed by the cowherd and the two-headed dog.

"I'm gonna say this once, you demigods better get back into that maze before it's too late," Eurytion advised us, the demigod cowherd.

"No, we need to see this other demigod," Annabeth pleaded with him.

Eurytion shook his head. "Guess that means I'll have to take you to my boss."

The cowherd led us through the paths passed all the fields, which had exotic creatures of all sorts. There were fire-breathing horses and even weirder creatures, like half horse and half rooster.

"Don't break the rules," Eurytion advised us, "no fighting, no weapons, and _don't_ talk about the boss' appearance."

"What does he look like?" Percy inquired.

A second later, his question was answered by the three-chested creature that greeted us. Believe me, when I said this, it was an interesting sight, to say the least. I'm not sure even how it was possible like he had one head, one torso, but three chests with a different shirt. They were connected by the arms and- it was weird, okay.

"Say hi to Mr. Geryon." Eurytion nudged Percy, who responded with equal amazement and confusion to me.

"Hi, nice chests- I mean ranch you have."

Oh gods, Percy, are you _trying_ to make this guy mad?

Much to my surprise, before Geryon could respond, Nico came out of the ranch building.

"Geryon, I'm done waiting and-" His eyes widened when he saw us, either out of anger or fear. I believe it was anger because he pulled out his Stygian iron sword, glaring at us.

"Put that away, I don't want my guest killing each other, Mr. di Angelo," Geryon ordered my brother.

"What? No hug for your sister?" I asked sarcastically.

"You let her die," Nico spat, still having his weapon out.

"Mr. di Angelo," Geryon warned.

"But they-"

"Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Arina Morales, and two monster friends, I'm quite aware," Geryon interrupted him.

"My sister died because of them!" Nico argued.

"Bianca died an honourable death! She sacrificed herself for us!" I yelled at him, a minor earthquake erupting suddenly.

"Miss Morales, I recommend you keep your powers in check," Geryon ordered me.

I stopped the earthquake as quickly as it came, glaring at him while he turned to Annabeth, who questioned him about knowing who we were. He simply said he just part of the job knowing who goes through the ranch before threatening my brother.

"If you get near me, Jackson, I won't need my helpers to take you down." Nico glared at my friend while threatening him.

"Oh, I believe you," Percy replied.

What a great family reunion, if you ask me.

From there, we were forced to sit in those trolley things they have at zoos for tours. My friends and I sat in the middle car while Nico and Eurytion sat in the back, Geryon driving of course with the two-headed dog, Orthus in the front.

Geryon was boasting about his ranch and all the creatures he had, which I didn't really care about. Therefore, I chose to tread on thin ice and shadow travel to my brother's car.

"What do you want?" my younger brother spat at me.

"I've talked to her, y'know," I stated.

Nico's eyes lit up for a second before narrowing. It was an expression I wasn't used to seeing on my once cheerful sibling. He was so full of life and joy before. Now he's this pale, skinny, emo kid.

"You're lying."

"Says who?"

"I've been trying to contact her-"

"She doesn't want-"

"You're _lying_, she's my sister. My REAL sister, not you."

I felt hurt by his words, glaring at him before shadow travelling back to my original car, scaring my friends, especially Grover.

"Where did you go?"

"Talked to my brother," I answered, crossing my arms and slumping back in my seat.

Geryon and my friends continued to talk as I observed the scenery around us, the smell of the stables hitting me first.

The stables' smell was horrifying, I didn't understand how I didn't pass out from the strength of the smell. Oh gods, it was the worst smell in the whole damn world! How could anyone live with this smell out of their backdoor?

Geryon exited the vehicle and seemed to be enjoying the view before my brother marched up to him, demanding some sort of deal.

"He said you could help us find the soul." Nico seemed annoyed by this monster not giving him a direct answer.

"Wait, I thought _I_ was the soul you wanted." Percy looked confused, his statement confusing me further.

Does he know who Nico is talking about? What soul exchange? What could he- oh Hades no. He can't be thinking about bringing Bianca back to life with an exchange of a soul! That's stupid, idiotic, it's also very dangerous!

"I'm sure Minos likes to disappear when things get difficult," Geryon speculated when he questioned Nico about where the ghost that was helping him was.

"You're receiving help from that fool?" I exclaimed.

I've lived in the Underworld long enough to interact with most of the major beings there. Therefore, I understand how much of a- pardon my language- dickhead Minos is. He's _obsessed_ with getting revenge against Daedalus, whose soul has yet to enter the Underworld.

"Shut up, I'm not taking advice from you!"

"Oh, watch your move, geezer." I rolled up my sleeves, ready to tackle my brother in any second if it weren't for Percy and Annabeth grabbing me.

"What did you mean by, when things get _difficult_?" Nico looked at Geryon.

Geryon began explaining how Luke, and I mean the evil guy working for Kronos, had promised lots of gold for powerful demigods like Nico. He would let us pass, apparently, someone paid for our passage, but he wanted Nico because he was a 'powerful demigod'.

Then, Percy started bargaining with him about setting us _all_ free. He promised to clean the man-eating horses' stable before sunset, which was where the wretched smell was emitting from. Of course, Geryon loved the challenge, accepting before hauling the rest of us back to the ranch house.

"You better know what your doing, Barnacle Boy," I said to him before I slipped back into the vehicle.

The ride back to the ranch house was awkward and silent, besides the weird small talk Geryon was producing. Once we got back, however, they tied us up.

Believe me, we did put up a fight, but once they got a knife to Annabeth's throat, we stopped so they could gag and bound our ankles.

Geryon started cooking hamburgers while we were tied up in the corner. He seemed to be enjoying himself, flipping patties and wearing three aprons for each of his bodies.

Well, he was happy until Percy came back. Once Percy announced he cleaned the stables without damaging the river and poisoning the naiad there, Geryon broke the promise. Apparently nothings binding unless you swear on the Styx, which I find stupid, but a good note.

Then, of course, a fight occurred. Percy versus Geryon, while the rest of us just watched. The thing I found interesting about that was the fact Eurytion didn't even want to fight, which I found odd for a kid of Ares.

"Coward! Come back here and die!" Geryon cried out to Percy, who for some reason, ran back towards the house.

All I could hear from outside were yells, but they were all silenced by three distinct thumping noises.

I knew what had happened. Percy had killed that monster with an arrow. An arrow straight through the three bodies, hitting each heart that blasted monster had. One thing I didn't understand was, how did he do it? He's almost a bad a shot as I am.

Soon Percy came out again, untying us and throwing the barbecue into a fire Geryon had nearby, which answered my question about him being able to shoot.

"How long does it take for him to reform?" I asked Eurytion, rubbing my sore wrists.

"A long time, he's not one of those fast reformers, thank gods. I ought to thank you for that." Eurytion shrugged, seeming to care very little for his boss.

"You've been his servant this whole time? Is that what you meant by dying for him?" Percy inquired.

"I started as a half-blood like you guys, but I accepted immortality from my father. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I'm stuck here, tending to the cattle and fighting his fights."

"Maybe you can change that," I suggested.

"How?"

"Take care of the animals, stop selling their meat. Maybe once he reforms, _you'll_ be the boss this time," Percy stated.

Eurytion smiled. "Maybe you're right, kid."

"You won't stop us from leaving?"

"Go ahead."

Annabeth still seemed suspicious, questioning about someone paying for our passage. He claimed he didn't know, he thought maybe Geryon might've just said that.

"Did you Iris-Message the Titans about Neeks?" I gestured to my fuming little brother, who glared at me for calling him that.

"Nope, Geryon was waiting for after the barbecue to do that. But, they know about you for sure. They said they'll pay Geryon a lot of money for you."

That response sent a shiver down my spine.

The Titans, Luke, the whole army probably knows who I am. They know I'm the daughter of Hades, one of the Big Three. Someone that could turn the tide of the impending war. I didn't like that.

"You can stay here while we continue on our quest," Percy suggested to my brother, "it'll be safer here."

"Why do you care if I'm safe?" Nico questioned with spite, "My sister's dead because of you!"

"Nico, that wasn't Percy's fault. Geryon was right about them wanting to capture you, they even want your sister-" Annabeth began.

"Arina isn't my _real_ sister!" Nico yelled.

I felt hurt by his words again. Technically we were siblings because of our dad, but there wasn't any DNA.

Gods had no DNA, that's how demigods between cabins could date each other. Of course, dating someone in your cabin would be straight-up wrong.

"If you cared about my _real_ sister, you'll help me bring her back!" Nico exclaimed.

"A soul for a soul?" Percy guessed to my surprise.

"It won't work," I stated coldly, crossing my arms.

"You don't know anything!" my brother shouted.

"Bianca wouldn't want to be brought back, you know that." Percy tried reasoning with my emotional and irrational little brother.

"You didn't know her!"

The sky darkened as something seemed to pass-through Percy's mind. I had an aching feeling it related to the prophecy.

"Let's ask her," Percy said.

"She won't respond." Nico seemed frustrated by us.

"She will," Percy replied, causing me to raise my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because she's been sending me Iris-Messages of you."

With that statement, I turned to Eurytion, who was watching us with a bored and somewhat interested expression.

"Do you have a pit or a grave?" I asked, "And we need food and drinks."

"There's a hole for the septic tank out back. Cyclops, get the icebox in the house," Eurytion ordered, "hope the dead like root beer."

* * *

It was nightfall when we did the summoning. We gather together in front of a twenty-foot pit beside a septic tank with a smiley face on it. It seemed unfitting for the occasion.

Nico threw barbecue and the root beer into the pit, looking ready to begin the summon if it weren't for me stopping him.

"_I'm_ doing it."

"What? No, _I_ need to-"

"Doesn't mean I'll let you do the summoning. It takes a fair bit of energy and Bianca will kill me if she knew I didn't do it for you." I stared him down, daring him to argue.

He gave in.

I began chanting in Ancient Greek, the mist thickening around us. All the noise disappeared from the air, the only thing remaining was my chanting and the quiet breaths of my friends.

Soon spirits began appearing, but I was too focussed on chanting that I couldn't tell who it was. However, judging from the way Nico and Percy responded to them, it wasn't Bianca.

"Ah... Arina, Kronos will be glad to know his sources were right."

I turned and saw a ghostly figure I recognized as Minos, the cruel judge of the Underworld. Honestly, couldn't my father choose someone more fit for that title?

"Shut up, and you knew who I was. I lived in the Underworld since Christmas," I spat at him as the spirits started growing restless.

I resumed chanting, glaring at him while he talked to my friends, disappearing a few moments later as a new spirit appeared.

The new spirit had a much brighter aura, and I knew who it was before they drank from the pit. It was Bianca.

"Hello, Percy," she greeted softly.

I saw Percy's face sink, the memory of her death still clear in his mind. I remembered how he went through the wreckage of the automaton, searching for her body while I stood aside, knowing she was long gone.

"Bianca!" Nico came forward, staring at his sister.

"Nico, you've grown so tall."

"Why didn't you come sooner? Why now?" Nico cried.

"I was hoping you would give up. Of course, now you have Arina calling me instead." She turned to me with a gratified smile. "Thanks for not letting him summon this time."

"No problem," I replied, breaking from my chant momentarily.

Nico and Bianca continued to converse as the spirits starting growing more restless. I knew I couldn't control it any longer without us being noticed.

"Goodbye, Nico, I love you." With that, Bianca disappeared, taking the rest of the spirits with her as well.

We all stood there in the dark, alone. The only thing accompanying us was the cold full moon and the junk food pit.

We went inside after that, none of us wanting to travel through the maze at night. We split up inside the house, Percy and Grover in the living room, Annabeth and I in one of the spare rooms, and I had no clue when Tyson and Nico went.

I was munching on some ambrosia while Annabeth read over something, scribbling some stuff out before writing something else.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Planning," was her response.

"A plan worthy of Athena, I presume?"

She looked up at me, staring at me before shaking her head and resuming her planning.

Eventually, she fell asleep, but I still couldn't sleep. Should I be worried that I haven't slept for like two nights? Maybe. Well, considering we found out we've been in the maze for a week, I guess it's not as bad.

I decided it was too boring in my shared room, so I crept out. I walked down the hall until I heard sniffling coming from one of the rooms. I walked closer to it and pushed the door gently, trying to get a peek on what was inside.

What I saw inside broke my heart. Nico was sitting on the ground, crying. He seemed to be hugging something in his hands, but before I could get a good glimpse of it, he ripped it into pieces.

I wanted to comfort him, but I knew if he saw me, he'll be furious at me for spying on him. He'll hate me more than he already did.

I stepped away from the door reluctantly, taking a deep breath to compose myself before venturing further into the house.

Two people were talking faintly as I neared the stairs, and I heard the distinct crunch of plastic that led to me to the conclusion it was Percy and Grover, the latter stress eating once more.

I stood outside the door, unsure if I should go in or not when someone spoke from behind me, scaring me.

"Eavesdropping isn't a good habit."

I jumped, turning and seeing Eurytion behind me with his club still in hand. It looked like he was planning to either attack any intruders or club me instead.

"I was going to go inside."

Eurytion stood there, sizing me up I presume before saying something confused and annoyed me. "You like that kid, Percy, right?"

"What? No!" I felt my cheeks flush red in the dark.

"Hm... well, if you don't, try not to be too keen towards him then."

"What do you mean? I'm not interested in him at all!" I tried keeping my voice quiet, but it was quite hard considering the topic we were discussing.

"If you don't, then leave him for your other friend, Annabeth, isn't it?"

"What?" I was more puzzled by him now.

He took a deep breath, shaking his head before mumbling something that sounded like, "Kids these days" before continuing. "She likes him, I can tell. If you don't like him, let your friend have him."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He sighed, adjusting his hat. "I knew a girl a long time ago who lost her chance with a guy. She had these two sisters who she thought were friends, but they weren't. They ruined her chances with the guy, and she paid dearly. I don't want that to happen to any more innocent kids," he elaborated.

"Oh..." I was surprised by his worry and story. "Thanks for the advice."

He nodded before disappearing behind another door.

I looked back at the living room door, contemplating going in or not. _I'm just talking to him, it's not like I'll make out with him or something like that. He's my friend, nothing more. I guess I thought he was cute before but now that I've got to know him, he's just a friend to me... right?_

"Arina?"

I jumped, again, shocked to see Percy at the door with a puzzled look on his face.

"What are you doing outside here?"

"Um... couldn't sleep, was wandering." It was the truth, right?

"Oh..."

I looked over his shoulder and saw the tv running while Grover snored on the couch.

"You wanna hang out with me then? I can't sleep either."

"Uh, sure," I replied, stepping into the living room.

This is not a betrayal towards Annabeth, right? Ugh... Eurytion got in my head now. I'm pretty sure she'll understand, I'll just explain and apologize. Yeah, good plan.

Percy flopped onto the couch, I followed in pursuit.

"Why can't you sleep?" I turned towards him.

"Demigod dreams, Kelli keeps on sending me... stuff.'

I tilted my head. "Who's Kelli?"

"Oh right, you weren't there. It's this empousa who tried killing me in school."

"Oh, reminds me how I nearly died. They attacked me during a field trip," I responded.

"When?"

"When I was like twelve, that's how I found out I was a demigod, remember?" I could've sworn we discussed this, but I could be wrong.

"Oh... right..."

Silence followed that.

"It was cool how you summoned those ghosts."

"Thanks... I haven't done it before though," I admitted.

"Wait, then how did you do it?" He turned to me, confused.

"Just winged it, heard enough about it from my dad and my dead siblings." I shrugged casually, turning sideways and lying on half of the couch.

"You have more dead siblings?" he gasped in shock.

"Um... yeah, we all do. Like you have Theseus, Orion, and probably more cyclopes like Tyson," I listed off the few that I knew were dead.

"Um... okay, that's uh... good to know."

Yep, I _definitely_ freaked him out. Well, I guess I don't worry about Annabeth now if he's slightly scared of me, right? I guess it's a win.

"How's New York anyway?" I pushed myself into a sitting position when I asked the question.

"Since you left? I guess pretty much the same." He shrugged in response.

"How's high school there?"

"I had freshmen orientation, nearly died, I met Rachel again though."

"Who?" That name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've heard it before.

"She's that girl we met in Hoover Dam," Percy answered.

"Oh..." I recalled how I didn't like her, but I don't remember in the slightest _why_. "How'd you meet her again?"

"She was gonna go to the same high school as me," he elaborated.

"Oh... I heard from Annabeth you set something on fire? What did I say about setting fire without me?" I inquired with a smile.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, I won't burn anything unless we're together."

"Ha, ha, deal," I replied, leaning back in my spot.

* * *

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep. When? Around five am, according to Percy, who didn't end up going back to sleep after me.

Once everyone was ready and junk, we went outside to bid farewell to Eurytion and thanked him.

"You could come with us, Nico," Percy suggested to my red-eyed, pale brother.

Nico shook his head before walking back towards the ranch house. He was probably still fuming over last night when Bianca came to him when Percy was with us. I would be mad too if my only sister wouldn't show up whenever I summoned her.

"I'm assuming you'll be heading to Daedalus' workshop?" Eurytion presumed.

"Yeah, any advice on how to find it?" Percy inquired hopefully.

Eurytion stood there, scratching his beard. "No, but I bet Hephaestus will."

"That's what Hera said! But how do we find him?" Annabeth exclaimed, not appearing to have slept well either.

Turns out, Eurytion had something that could help us. He pulled out this metal disk that had a button in the centre. According to him, Hephaestus gave it to him if he ever needed anything because of a favour.

Unfortunately, it transformed into a mechanical spider the moment the button was pressed by Annabeth, who was holding it and dropped it out of fear.

The spider scurried into the cattle guard, not bothering to wait for us at all. In a matter of moments, we might not ever find it again.

Once we said our goodbyes, Tyson pulled the cattle guard off and we delved into the Labyrinth once more.

When travelling through the maze, I noticed a weird glowing line on the ground. I'm not surprised I didn't notice it before, it was very faint but still very clear. It was running everywhere, multiple lines merging into the same one. I had a feeling the line was somewhat important, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind just as I was about to fall into a pit.

"They're like monkey bars," Annabeth stated before swinging across the bars above us in pursuit of the spider, which was swinging across.

Percy and I followed after, with much less confidence than her. Lastly was Tyson, who had Grover on his back the whole time.

Once we all crossed, we kept on walking, running into more skeletons. The further we got, the more skeletons appeared, and some fresher than others. The cause of this was answered once we ran into the giant Sphinx.

It stood proudly on a dais, spotlights dancing around her menacing figure.

"Welcome new contestants!" she announced with the most artificial grin I ever saw, "Get ready to play... GUESS THAT RIDDLE!"

I watched the spider crawl through her paws as bars came down, blocking the exit and only entrance into the room.

Annabeth volunteered then to answer the riddle, which I later realize wasn't the best idea, but it could've been worse. She answered the first three 'riddles', slightly confused but the answers were correct. However, she began questioning the whole contest.

I had a small feeling of why she questioned the monster threatening to kill us all. Her fatal flaw is pride, and this test was definitely hindering her pride.

Of course, because of her refusal to cooperate, the Sphinx chose to eat us. That's when the rest of us sprung into action.

Tyson tackled her while Percy and I drew our blades, the first ordering Annabeth to turn invisible. Naturally, the monster didn't like that and started attacking us. We managed to get a couple of jabs in before Tyson threw her grading machine at her, somehow triggering the bars to come up. Then, we all escaped through them just as they closed once more.

Once we were far enough away, I started yelling at Annabeth.

"Why couldn't you just answer the dang questions?" I exclaimed, stopping all of us.

"They were an insult to my intelligence!" Annabeth replied.

"Yes, cause we can't hurt your stupid pride. It's more important to just_ die_!" I retorted sarcastically.

"Well, at least I don't run from my problems like you!"

"Oh really? You think you're great and all? Says the girl who ran away from home, like what, twelve times?" I knew I struck a nerve by the expression on her face.

"Guys, just calm down. We need to follow the spider before we lose it." Percy got between us, attempting to calm us down.

We both begrudgingly agreed before continuing, eventually finding the spider again due to the fact Grover and Tyson had excellent super hearing.

Eventually, we came to a door with a Greek Êta on a plaque. The spider banged its body against the door, which led us to the conclusion we had arrived.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover inquired.

"Ready as we'll ever be," I replied.

Tyson, the most excited of us, spun the wheel on the door and pushed it open.

Once inside, I could tell just by the looks of it that it belonged to the god of blacksmiths and metalworking. The room was every mechanics dream by the looks of it. The place was filled to the brim with tons of metalworking junk and unfinished projects.

Soon enough, the god was alerted of our presence by the spider, which crawled underneath a car and caught his attention. He crawled out of the belly of the car and tinkered with the spider before addressing us with mild distaste.

"We've met, sir," Percy said to him.

Hephaestus eyed my friend. "Well, if I didn't kill you then, I suppose I shouldn't kill you now."

Wow, this guy is just a ray of happiness.

"This one's sarcastic, I can tell," he said, turning to me.

"Um... sorry for any disrespect, sir," I replied.

He stared at me a second longer before turning to the rest of us, distinguishing us individually. He seemed to harbour some mild resentment towards the majority of us, sans Tyson. Reason? I think it's because he was a cyclops, and those guys worked for Hephaestus.

Annabeth began explaining to him why we needed to talk to him, which the god did not take well. I guess he might've had a disagreement with Daedalus or something by the way he talked about him.

He then explained how some people can't be trusted because of your past together, like him and his mother.

Afterwards, he said he needed a favour, which Annabeth accepted immediately without a second thought. He explained how he a forge that we needed to check on because someone was using it and whenever he went to see who, they disappeared.

Another interesting fact about that forge: it was located in Mount St. Helens. A great nature spot and the resting place of the worst monster in Greek mythology. Typhoon, the only monster the gods were truly afraid of.

Great place for a forge, am I right?

"Okay, how do we get there?" Annabeth asked after he finished explaining what needed to be done.

He summoned the spider, which swung down from above and in front of Annabeth, scaring her.

"Follow that and you'll find my forge. It isn't that far away," Hephaestus stated to us.

The spider began scurrying back outside, causing us to follow it in pursuit. However, just as I was about to exit the workshop, he called me back.

"Arina, isn't it? Hades' kid?"

"Yes," I stated, turning to face him.

"Watch your flirting with my son," he warned before waving me off, leaving me confused.

I returned to my friends, mulling over the thing he said in bewilderment. When have I ever _flirted_ with a Hephaestus kid? The only two I talk to are Beckendorf and Harley, who's this cute seven-year-old that just came to camp. For one, I respected Silena too much to flirt with Beckendorf, and two, Harley is _seven,_ I'm not creepy. I don't date someone that much younger than me! Or flirt, for that matter.

"What did Hephaestus want?" Percy questioned as we chased after the spider.

"Well, it's rather embarrassing on my part," I admitted in reply.

"C'mon, can't be that bad."

"Okay... he said I should stop flirting with his son."

Silence followed that until Percy erupted into laughter, causing me to punch him in the shoulder. Still, he remained laughing.

"Okay, who's your crush then? Or is a boyfriend we're not aware of?" Percy joked with a smirk.

"Gods! I don't like any of his kids that way! I only talk to two of them anyway!" I exclaimed, feeling blood rush to my face as I tried to hide my embarrassment.

"Sure Arina, suuuure," he rolled his eyes, resulting in me tripping him as we ran.

"I swear, I'm gonna end up getting revenge against you, then you'll regret making fun of me," I warned him with a glare.

* * *

It was a mistake to split up.

Once we hit tree roots at a fork, Grover sensed Pan. He wanted to go down the tunnel filled with roots, but Annabeth said we needed to continue with the quest. Percy then suggested we split up: Grover and Tyson chase after Pan, the rest of us follow the steadily disappearing spider.

After we split up and went down our path, the walls started getting hotter, signifying we were getting closer to the volcano.

Along the way, Percy started questioning how Annabeth was born, which isn't as gross as I originally thought. Of course, I can't say the same for the rest of demigod births.

When we finally got the forge, I was soaked in sweat from the heat. There was lava bubbling below us as we stood near the entrance, hopefully, hidden. There was a mixture of metal and rocks that created the floor and bridge across. Honestly, I didn't think that was a good combination considering that metal heats up quite quickly.

While Annabeth and Percy were talking, something hit me. This weird, _salty_ scent. It was like a monster scent, but more watery. I didn't know any, nor have I met any, sea monsters, but this is the smell they emit.

"Shut up," I whispered to them both, creeping along to get a better view.

There were these creatures, I wasn't sure what the names were, but they seemed to be a hybrid of a dog and some sort of sea creature judging from the flippers.

"Hold up, I'll go up there," I whispered to them, blending into the shadows and climbing up the platform.

As I predicted, the metal riggings were _hot,_ like really hot. I'm not sure how I managed not to cry out in pain from the heat.

Once on the platform, I focussed all my energy on my body to morph into the shadows as I crept along, trying to figure out what these monsters were doing there in Hephaestus' forge. The sooner I found out what and who they are, the sooner we can get this quest over with.

I like quests, to an extent. I sort of don't wanna die, which should be understandable. From what I heard, most campers die on quests, and I'm pretty sure our prophecy refers to death in some way.

From what Annabeth told us, the prophecy went like this,

_'You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,_

_ The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise._

_ You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,_

_ The Child of Athena's final stand._

_ Destroy with a hero's final breath.'_

The prophecy seems normal, right? Well, for starters, usually every line rhymes with something else. However, this prophecy has two lines that rhyme, and one that doesn't. What does that mean? It means Annabeth is hiding something from us, the _last_ line of the prophecy. I have a theory it ends in death, that could be a reason why she's withholding the information.

I peered over the edge of the cauldron then, trying to see what the monsters were making. What I saw terrified me.

"Arina!"

I whipped my blades out, nearly impaling Percy in the throat.

"What are you doing?" I whispered/yelled at him.

How the Hades did he find me? I'm _invisible_ for gods' sake... right?

"I caught the attention of a class of telekhines and they're after us!" he explained quickly, Annabeth appearing behind him.

"You couldn't keep him out of trouble any longer?" I inquired, exasperated.

"He's a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied with an eye roll.

I crossed my arms before showing them what the monsters were making. A look of fear and realization crossed Annabeth's face while Percy's was scrunched up, thinking still.

"It shall be sharper than before!" one of the telekhines exclaimed to his four comrades down below us.

"What-"

"The scythe, the greatest weapon of the Titans." I stepped back from the cauldron, avoiding being seen.

"We need to get-"

A blast interrupted her, a door on the side burst forth with smaller telekhines tripping over each other. They all ran out, looking around frantically.

"Guys, turn invisible!" Percy ordered Annabeth and I, "Get out!"

"We're not leaving you," she and I said in unison.

"Please, I have a plan! Just get out and tell Hephaestus what we found!"

"You'll die!" I argued.

"You need our help!" Annabeth agreed.

"I'll be fine, there's no other choice."

I reluctantly agreed while Annabeth glared at him. Her next action surprised and excited me. She grabbed him and kissed him, pushing him away before grabbing my wrist.

"Good luck, Seaweed Brain." She put on her cap.

"You're gonna need it," I added before melting into the shadows and running hand-in-hand with Annabeth out of the chamber.

We ran out for, following the mechanical spider for a while before I heard a faint buzzing in my ears, making me freeze as the ground shook. The revelation hit me a second later, making me collapse against the wall to catch my breath and thoughts.

"Arina? Are you okay?"

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Remember when my s-sister died? How I knew she was dead long before the rest of you?"

A look of dread appeared on my friend's face. "Y-yes..."

"I think Percy's dead."

She had the same reaction as me, slumping against the wall before covering her face in her hands.

We sat there, I wasn't sure for how long, but eventually she pulled herself together before I could. She grabbed my hand, helping me up, and continued to run in search of the spider.

We ran in silence until we found the spider again, which was banging its body against Hephaestus' door again. I don't know how we found it, probably just by luck, maybe I was even following that line on the ground subconsciously as I tried to distract myself from the fact Percy could, and possibly is, dead.

"S-sir," I stuttered, alerting the god of our presence.

He slid out from under the car and looked at us, still maintaining his grumpy expression. He hobbled over to us, grabbing the mechanical spider and disassembling it before putting it back together.

"What happened to the other kid?"

Our silence seemed like enough of an answer as he nodded, grabbing a remote off a table and pointing it a tv I didn't notice before, turning it on.

Broadcasting on the screen was an eruption at Mount St Helens. There weren't any details yet as it just happened two days- wait, what? It's already been two days?

"The pact was meant for stuff like this not to happen..." he grumbled before shutting it off once more.

"How do we find the workshop then?" I inquired, "We did your stupid quest, there were telekhines in the forge rebuilding Kronos' scythe." I was sick and tired of seeing friends die now for gods. First my sister, then Zoë, and now Percy? Gods! I hate them so much-

"Don't think things you'll regret," Hephaestus cautioned, interrupting my internal rant.

"Well, where is the workshop, sir?" Annabeth asked, her expression stoic while her voice cracked.

"Hm... I think it's best if you two head back to your camp. I have, um, something to check on. I'll tell you later."

I fought the urge to glare at the god and yell some rather _choice_ words. Instead, I grabbed Annabeth's wrist before dragging her outside.

Fortunately enough, Hephaestus let us use the spider again to get back to camp, which took a lot less time than I anticipated considering he said we were close to Washington.

Once back at the camp, we regretfully inform Chiron of what happened. He also revealed the eruption happened nearly two weeks ago, according to the news.

We soon had to prepare a funeral. None of Percy's cabin members, um, I mean _member_ was with us so Annabeth and I created the burial shrouds ourselves.

Another concerning bit of information we uncovered was that Grover and Tyson were still missing, but I had a feeling they were fine judging from the fact I didn't hear anymore buzzing.

After preparing the burial shrouds, which had seashells and seaweed coloured blue, we had the funeral. It was a sombre event, well, despite the fact most of the Ares' campers seemed excited.

Everything was going according to plan until we had a funeral crasher. Who was it? It was the dead man himself, Perseus Jackson.

* * *

"WHERE THE HADES HAVE YOU BEEN?" I screamed at him, tackling him with Annabeth after he showed up to HIS damn funeral!

"We thought you were dead!"

"It's been two weeks!"

At that moment, she and I realized our awkward position and both stood up, blushing slightly.

"Sorry, I got lost." He rubbed the back of his neck, pushing himself into a sitting position after we got off.

"LOST?" Annabeth and I exclaimed, "IT'S BEEN TWO WEEKS!"

"Girls, calm down, perhaps we should discuss this in private?" Chiron suggested, "Everyone else, return to your activities!" he announced to the rest of the camp.

Then, much to our surprise, he picked up Annabeth, Percy, and I, carrying us back to the Big House. Really, couldn't he have just _asked_ us to follow him? Did he think we were a bit too hysterical to do anything?

Once in the Big House, Percy began explaining where he had been the past two weeks. As well as what Hephaestus' advice was, which Annabeth protested against.

I was fine having a mortal guide us through the maze, but there was one thing bothering me. I had a feeling Percy wasn't telling the truth when he said he was stuck on some random island. Just the _way_ he said it, and his palms were sweating like crazy. However, I decided not to voice my opinion for his sake. Wherever he was, there was probably a good reason why he didn't tell us.

"You're the single most _annoying_ person I ever met!" Annabeth yelled, glaring at Percy before storming out of the room after their little dispute over having a mortal helping us.

"Y-you're okay with it, right?" He turned to me in worry.

"Yeah, it's not like we're exposing the Greek world to her, she's clearsighted anyway." I shrugged, not caring really.

Percy looked at the doorway, sighing. "So much for being the bravest friend she ever knew."

"She'll calm down, she's just jealous," I reassured him.

"I agree, just give her some time," Chiron agreed, nodding.

"That's stupid though, it's not like... we're not..." Percy trailed off, a look of confusion on his face.

Gods, this boy is _so_ dense!

Chiron seemed amused by Percy's obliviousness as well. "She is very protective of her friends if you didn't know. She was the most worried out of all of us. Now that you're back, I have a feeling she knows where you were gone."

Percy looked at us both, hopefully realizing what we were implying.

Chiron began explaining our next plan of action. Tomorrow, we will head to Manhattan with Argus driving us. Along the way, we would stop by Percy's apartment to see his mother because she thought he was dead after I Iris Messaged her.

"What about Grover and Tyson?" Percy inquired.

I sighed, shaking my head. "They still haven't come back. All of Juniper's branches are wilting because of it. As well, the Cloven of Elders has revoked his searcher's license."

"I shouldn't have let them run off..."

"They're alive, I know it. I trust them, they'll make it back in no time," I reassured him.

"You also have the empathy link so you'll know if he's in mortal danger," Chiron pointed out.

_Unless he's in godly danger_, I added mentally.

"I also have two other pieces of unfortunate news." Chiron started explaining how Chris Rodriguez, the demigod Clarisse retrieved from the Labyrinth, was dying.

I could actually feel a veil of death wrapped around him.

The other bad news was that Quintus had disappeared roughly three nights ago, the day Annabeth and I got back. According to Juniper, she saw him slip into the maze and has yet to return. As a result, the rest of us thinks he was a spy for Kronos.

"What about Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy questioned.

"It's in the arena still," Chiron responded, "and it won't let anyone but Arina approach. That's likely due to the fact hellhounds like her."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "What I gotta say? Beasts from the Underworld like me, well, besides that drakon out there."

"Quintus wouldn't just leave her," Percy argued.

"Like as said, we were wrong about him. You should get some rest and prepare for tomorrow," Chiron advised us.

I motioned Percy to follow me out of the Big House.

"You were on Calypso's island, weren't you?" I guessed as we walked towards his cabin.

He avoided eye contact with me, opting to gaze at a group of younger campers making arts and crafts instead.

"Don't worry about Annie, she'll get over it."

"I get that she's protective," he began, "but it's just a mortal girl! And nothing happened between me and Calypso!"

"Yeah, but she doesn't know that," I pointed out.

"But-"

"Okay, see it from her perspective." We stopped walking before I could continue. "Your best friend, who I have to point out, you _kissed_ in an almost erupting volcano, dies. You go through grief and stuff, then go to their funeral. Surprise, they _show_ _up_ to their funeral.

"Then they tell you that you need someone else's help when your fatal flaw is, in fact, pride. Afterwards, they don't provide evidence to where they actually were, leading you to the conclusion it was Calypso's island. How would _you_ feel after all that?"

He looked down, sighing. "Pretty crummy..."

"See, that's how Annie feels. She was upset over your presumed death, then you come back saying we can't solve the quest without some mortals help. You know she's prideful, that was clearly demonstrated when she was in the Sphinx's contest."

"Yeah, I see what you mean now," he admitted.

We stopped in front of his cabin, but there was something I didn't understand. How was Percy alive? I felt him die, well, I heard the buzzing. Therefore, I decided to test something out.

I poked him in the neck, causing him to jerk away from me and give me an odd look.

"What was that for?"

"I don't know how you're alive still, I felt you _die_ two weeks ago."

"What?"

I sighed, shaking my head at his ignorance. "I can sense when people die, daughter of Hades, remember?"

"Oh... well, I'm not sure. Maybe Calypso brought me back?"

I looked at him, walking around him as well to get a better viewpoint. "Well, I didn't feel you enter the Underworld like Bianca, so maybe that's something."

"Maybe you can sense when someone's like, _extremely_ close to death," he suggested instead.

"Oh, possibly," I agreed.

I recalled how two years ago when he was stung by a scorpion, I heard buzzing in my ears. He didn't die then, and he isn't dead now.

"You're smarter than I thought, Barnacle Boy." I swung my arm around his neck, pulling him down because of my shorter height.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, pushing away from me. "I'm not that dumb!"

"Dude, all of your nicknames call you stupid," I pointed out.

"Like?"

"Seaweed Brain, Kelp Head, Barnacle Boy," I listed off the three I knew. I wasn't sure if he had any other ones.

"Ugh... that means nothing!" He sighed in exasperation.

I stood there laughing while he shook his head. To be honest, it was pretty funny all his nicknames mock him in one way or another.

"Gods... you're so annoying," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

"You still like me though, who else can beat you in a sword fight?" I questioned, crossing my arms with a smirk.

"What? Since when can you beat me?"

"Okay, let's go to the arena and fight then," I challenged, "unless you're scared of losing?"

"Oh, you're on. Race you there!" he yelled before running down the hill towards the arena.

"Hey!" I yelled back to him.

* * *

Percy and I were still joking around with each other the next morning as we walked up to Half-Blood Hill to meet Argus and Annabeth.

"I beat you fair and square," I protested.

"No, I _tripped_ you when you swung at me, so _I'm_ the better swordsman."

"Well, I'm the best _swordswoman_ in that case."

He rolled his eyes before we came to a stop at the top of the hill.

I knew Annabeth was still mad at Percy judging by the way I was the only one maintaining a conversation with Argus during the van ride to Manhattan. Of course, the downside is that he isn't much of a talker either.

"So... how'd you sleep? You look pretty tired," I asked Annabeth after my many failed attempts at starting up a conversation.

"Well, I got an Iris Message from Eurytion," she replied, looking uneasy.

Instantly, that got me worried. "Is Nico okay? Did Kronos find him? Does he know we're-"

"Arina, calm down, it's probably not that bad," Percy said in an attempt to calm me down.

"Well, it's kinda bad," Annabeth stated.

"What happened?"

"Nico went missing from the ranch. Eurytion said he woke up and he was gone. Orthus tracked his scent to the cattle guard."

"_What_?" He couldn't have gone back into the maze, right? He's not that stupid!

"Apparently, he's been talking to himself, but Eurytion thinks it might be Minos."

Now I was more worried. "Doesn't Nico know not to trust him? Minos probably just wants Nico to bring him back to life so he can kill Daedalus!"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you, you would get all worked up and worried." She shook her head, staring down at her lap.

"Well, once I find my brother, I'll yell at him more than we did at Percy yesterday," I vowed to myself, "and there isn't a spot on the whole damn world he can hide from me."

"Woah, chill," Percy said in an attempt to calm me down.

"Nope, I'm dead set on hunting him down. Then, he gets to spend the year in the Underworld with me so he can get lectured by me _and_ Bianca." I had a solid plan now, and I'm gonna drag his sister into this too.

"Wait, you're going back to the Underworld after the summer's over?" he inquired, shocked.

"Yeah, it's my home."

"But, what about camp? I thought you were going to stay."

"Yeah... but there are too many complications between me and the majority of the camp. Most of their campers hate me because I'm the daughter of Hades."

"So? Who cares?" he questioned, "You once told me that it didn't matter what the other campers thought when everyone hated me, remember?"

"Yeah, but they eventually got used to you, sans the Ares cabin of course. And let's not forget like half of the Aphrodite cabin has a crush on you."

Percy's cheeks turned bright red. "W-what?"

"You're such a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated, rolling her eyes.

Soon after, we arrived at Percy's apartment, his mom greeting us and embracing her son enthusiastically.

"I _knew_ you were alive, a mother's knowledge is much more powerful than the ability to sense death, no offence, Arina," Ms. Jackson said.

"None taken, Ms. Jackson," I replied as we all sat down in the dining room.

As Percy explained to her the situation, Annabeth and I munched on the strangely blue chocolate chip cookies his mother served us.

He tried making everything seem less terrifying than it was, but I'm sure he made it worse. I think there's no easy way to explain that you cleaned a stable full of man-eating horses, fought several monsters, then blew up a volcano without lying.

"I can get him to clean manure out of a stable, but not his room?" Ms. Jackson exclaimed in exasperation, causing Annabeth and I to laugh.

Then they began talking about Percy's school, which was when I promptly excused myself.

"May I use your bathroom?"

"Yes, it's down the hall," she replied before focussing on her son.

I walked down the hall, which was almost all clean except some stuff leaking out of a room. I knew it was wrong to snoop in someone else's house, so that's why I was quick to pop my head into the room.

The room was blue and had clothes and books strewn everywhere. Immediately, I knew it was Percy's, so I exited quickly to avoid any more invasions of his privacy.

Once I found the bathroom, I turned on the shower. I waited a second before a fine mist of water fell. Afterwards, I threw a drachma into the shower, praying to the goddess Iris.

"Show me Nico di Angelo in the Labyrinth," I whispered.

The mist shimmered before showing my brother huddled beside a fire, a ghostly figure talking to him.

"Minos, get away from my brother, _now_," I hissed at the ghost, who jumped at my sudden appearance.

"Master! Do not listen to her! She is trying to stop-"

"Shut up and leave us be," Nico ordered the ghost brashly before turning to me. "What do you want? How did you find me?"

"Eurytion told us you ran off," I stated, glaring at him through the mist, "do you understand how _worried_ I've been?"

He slumped his shoulders, crossing his arms in a grumpy way. "Why would you care about me?"

"I'm your sis-"

"No, you're not. You keep on saying it, but you're not. Bianca was my only sister, and you let her _die_! How can I ever trust you again?"

"I'm worried about you, okay? You run off into the Labyrinth and listen to the advice of the cruellest spirit in the Underworld, how _couldn't_ I be concerned?" I exclaimed, exasperated, "I may not be your blood relative, but we share the same father, and we share the same power."

He refused to make eye contact with me, opting to look at his fire instead, which infuriated me further.

"Nico di Angelo! I don't care how long it takes, but I will hunt you down and teach you a lesson about running away like this! And when I'm done with that, I'm gonna drag you, screaming, crying, whatever, to the Underworld to get yelled by your 'actual' sister!" I warned him.

Now, Nico looked slightly scared. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing at me apprehensively.

"Actually, I bet she already knows about you running off, and she'll be glad I brought you to her."

"Okay, okay... I get it," he seemed frightened of my tone, which made me calm down a bit before continuing.

"I'm gonna go down there soon, okay? Can we just talk this out in person? Please?" I tried to not sound like I was begging, but it was hard not to.

My brother sighed. "Fine, I won't do anything more stupid, I promise."

"Swear it, swear it on the Styx," I ordered firmly.

"F-fine... I swear on the River Styx I won't do anything stupid until you find me," he swore, thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Okay then, I'll see you soon, stay safe." With that, I swiped my hand through the image and turned off the shower.

I glanced in the mirror and saw something odd. At the top of my hair, I noticed my roots turning darker, almost black. _Must be my imagination_, I shook it off before opening the door and going out to the dining room.

Annabeth was getting up and Percy seemed to have just hung up the phone when I arrived, both of them and Ms. Jackson giving me an odd look.

"Um... I called my brother," I elaborated, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Okay then," Percy stated before hugging his mom goodbye before we all walked out of the apartment, saying our thanks to her as well.

Soon, we met up with Rachel, who was completely painted and dressed in gold, in Times Square. From there, we went to a coffee shop where she got a coffee while the rest of us got smoothies.

"So, Annabell, right?" she turned to Annabeth first.

"Annabeth, and do you usually dress in gold?"

Yep, Annabeth is _definitely_ jealous of her. No doubt about it. Am I like the only one that sees it? It's pretty obvious.

"Not usually, we're raising money for our art program," she answered, "And you're... Arlene?" She turned to me this time.

"Arina," I corrected her.

"Almost bad as Mr. D is with names," Annabeth said under her breath.

"So, you're both half-bloods too?" Rachel inquired, which caused Annabeth to blow up about exposing us.

Okay, she hundred percent hates Rachel. I was right, there's no other reason why she hates everything that comes out of that girl's mouth.

"Guys, calm down," Percy said, trying in a vain attempt to stop a full argument. He then began explaining the situation to Rachel while Annabeth looked irritable the whole time.

"You can see through the Mist, which means you can navigate through the Labyrinth. The maze can't trick you," I explained to her.

"And if you're wrong?"

"Well, then we can all get trapped inside, stuck with Annabeth complaining about you until we die," I stated with a shrug.

"Arina!" Annabeth seemed embarrassed, punching me in the shoulder with a glare.

"Whatever," I replied with an eye roll.

Soon after explaining how Luke is willing to kill her, which begun with how monsters won't attack her and junk. Anyway, we told her what the entrance to the Labyrinth looked like, and much to our surprise, she knew where one of them was.

"It's in the basement," Rachel stated, brushing the gold out of her hair.

Then, we were off again.

We waited for her to change before heading down to the basement of some hotel, finding the symbol and activating entrance quickly. Once inside, we all got a scare when we saw a skeleton of fully grown cyclops draped over the hallway.

"Well, ain't that pleasant..." I grumbled before going forward, navigating purely in the darkness before the others stopped me.

"Um, remember not all of us can travel in the shadows," Annabeth reminded me, flicking on her flashlight and gesturing towards Rachel to guide us.

I saw Percy hang back, still staring at the cyclops with a look of dread on his face.

"It's not Tyson, it's way too big and way too old. I would've known if they died, same with you. You'll be in a coma if Grover died," I pointed out, grabbing his arm and dragging him further into the maze.

We twisted and turned in the corridors, Rachel leading us surprisingly well. Of course, Annabeth questioned her every move and actions despite the fact a literal god told us we needed a clearsighted mortal to help us.

Unfortunately, nothing good ever lasts long. Soon, two dracaenae and an empousa stopped us in our tracks.

"Well, well," the leader of the trio, I presumed, stated with a wicked grin.

Before we could even draw our weapons, the empousa grabbed Rachel and held up her claws to her neck.

"Mortals are incredibly fragile, you know," she said in a threatening way.

Behind us, the footsteps that we were running from grew louder. Turns out, it was a Laistrygonian giant.

"Can I eat them?"

I glared at the monsters before the leader shook her head.

"No, they will provide excellent entertainment. Now go, half-bloods, unless you want this mortal hurt."

We begrudgingly followed the monsters as I tried thinking of a plan, however, that was Annabeth's thing so I couldn't think of anything.

Not long after our capture, we appeared at a large set of bronze doors. Once in front of it, they pushed us all back, except for Percy.

"Go ahead, entertain us, Percy. We'll stay here and watch your friends so you'll behave," the empousa said with a grin.

The rest of us couldn't do anything while they had our weapons and Rachel was at claw-point, so we just stood there and watched Percy go forward.

"I'll get you out of this," he promised Rachel before going forth through the doors.

We were sent in after, but we had guards surrounding us so we couldn't interfere even if we wanted to.

From what I could tell, it was an arena filled with monsters of all sorts and several demigods, much to my surprise. However, I soon realized what was happening judging from the skulls and the familiar blond guy sitting up in the stands.

Kronos' army was trying to get through, and the person who owns this territory wants them to fight their way through, a form of sick entertainment, if you will.

"Luke! Please stop! Let us through!" Annabeth yelled out.

The blond dude, who was, in fact, Luke, looked at her, shocked. "Annabeth?"

Soon after, this ugly giant started ordering Luke to provide better entertainment if they wanted to get through. Turns out, he was Percy's half-brother, so he enjoyed the fact his brother was going to fight to the death with some of Luke's soldiers.

The first that was sent out was a dracaenae who was easily slain by Percy. Of course, this upset the crowd and the giant, whose name was Antaeus.

"Wait for me to order the kill!" Antaeus screamed in outrage while Percy stood defiantly in the arena

The next opponent, however, stunned me. It may have been half a year, but I recognized the eye patch and dark hair immediately. It was the boy I met at the Olympian party, son of Nemesis.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, seeming just as bewildered as me at the sight of a demigod as his new opponent.

"Ethan Nakamura," the guy said, adjusting his armour, "I have to kill you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's the only way to join in," he responded before Antaeus ordered them to fight.

They were evenly matched as far as I could tell when they began. Whoever trained him did an excellent job. He managed to parry every strike Percy sent, but the same went for him.

After a bit, Percy began going on defence, angering the crowd as he blocked and dodged only. However, I could see the reason behind it. Ethan was dressed for defence in heavy armour, meaning he'll tire quickly.

Suddenly, Ethan made a poorly aimed jab and his sword was knocked the ground. Before he could react though, Percy hit the butt of his sword against Ethan's head, knocking him to the ground, dazed. Then, Percy put his sword at Ethan's chest.

Antaeus signalled for the killing blow, but instead, Percy helped Ethan up instead.

"No one dishonours the game! Poseidon shall have your heads!" Antaeus bellowed in rage.

"Why don't you fight me? If your Dad's favourite, it'll be easy!" Percy challenged the giant.

Before Antaeus could protest, the crowds grumbled their agreement. He looked around, realizing he couldn't back down in the fight without looking like a coward.

He began boasting about how powerful he was in an attempt to scare Percy, but it didn't work, as far as I could tell. Actually, it looked like it confused him more.

Percy began going over the terms of the fight, saying we all get to pass freely if he succeeds, but we all die if he loses. Then, Antaeus swore it on the Styx.

The giant jumped down as Ethan backed up.

Instead of watching the fight, I called out to him impulsively.

"Ethan!" I whispered/yelled.

He turned at his name, staring at me for a second before his eyes widened. He sidestepped closer, getting scolded by our guards but remaining at a good listening distance.

"You're trying to join Kronos' army?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah... what are you doing here with this lot?" he questioned in return, gesturing towards my friends.

"We're on a quest,"

"Oh... so you're from Camp Half-Blood, aren't you?" He seemed annoyed when he said this.

I raised my eyebrows at his tone. "Yeah, so? I'm a demigod, so are you."

"Hm, at least you finally answered my question. I've been wondering since that party who you were."

I blushed, turning away and seeing Annabeth make a teasing face at me. I mouthed 'shut up' in return.

"Well, whatever..."

"I didn't catch your name though," he pointed out.

"Arina," I replied.

"Got a last name to go with that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Morales," I answered.

However, before we could continue our conversation, yelling turned us back towards the fight unfolding between Percy and Antaeus.

Somehow, that Barnacle Boy got that giant stuck up in the chains above us. When Luke yelled to free him, Percy responded with stabbing the giant in the stomach, sand gushing out of it.

"We're free Luke, he swore it on the Styx," Percy stated.

"Well, his oath dies with him, and I order the rest of you to kill them!" Luke ordered, "Spare the girl though... I n-need to talk to her." He pointed at Annabeth, who was still being held by the giant.

Before anyone could do anything, Percy blew into a whistle that he had in his pocket, it melting the moment after he blew it. That, confused everyone.

Nonetheless, a second later, the giant holding Annabeth flew against the opposite wall and a familiar furry black creature appeared to our aid.

"Guys, let's go!" Percy yelled as Mrs. O'Leary scared off the rest of our guards and threw the empousa onto Luke's lap.

Rachel pointed at the tunnel up ahead. "That way!"

Without a second to lose, we all ran that way, dodging the weapons and rocks being throw at us along the way.

We ran for a while, listening to Rachel yell out orders and leading us through corridor after corridor. Later, we stopped in a large room, all panting and listening to see if we were followed.

"You guys are crazy," Ethan exclaimed, ripping off his helmet. Sweat glistened on his black hair, forcing me to turn away and focus on my rings that reappeared on my fingers.

"I remember you! You were one of the kids in the Hermes cabin a few years back!" Annabeth stated when she got a good luck at him.

"Yeah, and you're Annabeth."

"Why are you trying to join up with the wrong side?" she inquired.

"There's no right side or wrong side. The gods never cared-"

"And blah, blah, blah, we've heard the rant before," I said, stopping him from continuing.

"I'm surprised you're with these guys though," he admitted, staring at me.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Ethan pushed himself back to a standing position. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to _you_ guys rant about how the gods and great. I'm leaving."

Percy then tried convincing him to join us, but he denied our request.

"You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson. There's no mercy in this war." With that, he ran back out into the Labyrinth.

** (A/N: Okay, I need your guys opinion on something that will _drastically_ change this story. I have a plot idea- no, _two_ ideas. I call them 'Plan A' and 'Plan B', the same as the one I was referring to on my Instagram story. Please, please, PLEASE comment/review which one you want me to go with. I'm seriously stuck on which one and I will love if you suggest one of these two for me.**

** Please review/comment 'Plan A' or 'Plan B'. I won't say what's in either to not spoil the story. Thank you, and I'll give you a shoutout in my next chapter if you do.)**


	20. A new life

** (A/N: Okay, so I was gonna write more in the last chapter, but I realized the word count got too big. Like, it was basically 12,000 words! So I decided to cut the rest into this chapter because I realized I should add more into this much shorter chapter. Also, if you're on Wattpad, up above is Arina's Aesthetic. If you're on , it would be on the bottom of my bio. I'll be including aesthetics for my OCs so I might post some more in the future ;) Thank you, please review/comment on the last chapter, and enjoy!)**

I couldn't sleep again, so I volunteered to take the first watch. Nothing much happened, well, except for an earthquake that forced us all to evacuate.

Currently, we were running down a corridor in darkness, but suddenly, there was light up ahead. Not sunlight, but like _electric_ lighting. Of course, this confused Annabeth because we should be heading to the oldest part of the maze. In my opinion, if Daedalus is such a genius, he probably modernizes his whole area.

Soon we came across a door with the Delta symbol, confirming we found his workshop.

Once inside, the sight amazed us. First, it looked like a professional art studio rather than a workshop. It had huge windows that let in tons of natural light and showed a stunning view. As well, there were dozen of easels with half-finished sketches on them littering the place.

"Look at all of these! He's a genius!" Annabeth exclaimed in astonishment.

"And an artist," Rachel marvelled.

The place looked beautiful, I admit. However, something about it smelled... off. Something about this place seemed really wrong, but that's understandable. It belonged to a man that cheated death, which is something my father and Thanatos work on. Daedalus cheated, so of course, his workshop would smell weird to me.

"Where are we?" Percy inquired, looking around in amazement.

I heard his breathing before he talked, spinning around and summoning my blades.

"Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods."

I narrowed my eyes at our ex-swordsman who stood upon a spiralling staircase.

"What did you do with Daedalus?" I questioned.

"You don't want to meet him, believe me."

"Well, I don't believe you," I replied sharply.

"Where is he?" Annabeth asked, glaring at him.

"You think I'm an agent Kronos," he began.

"Well, likely," I stated.

He shook his head. "You girls are smart, but you are wrong. I work only for myself."

Quintus began talking about other stuff, distracting us from the original questions. I had enough games, I'm tired of being led on, I just wanted the answer.

"Where. Is. He?" I repeated forcefully as the few shadows in the room curled around me.

He shook his head once more. "You need advice about seeing clearly. I _am_ Daedalus."

Naturally, we would probably go against that statement and accuse him of lying. However, Percy chose something else.

"What? But you're a swordsman!" he exclaimed.

"Check with your friend. She can sense the dead and the living." Quintus gestured to me as I stared at him quizzically.

_I've always sensed something but..._

"Still, how could you possibly be him? You look nothing like him!" Percy stated, confusing me.

He saw Daedalus before? When?

Then Percy gazed at the swordsman in shock, realization dawning on him. "You're an automaton. You created a new body to survive!"

"Correct, I am," Quintus- I mean _Daedalus_ revealed.

"No, that's not possible," Annabeth argued, disbelief on her face.

"Do you know what Quintus means?"

"It means fifth-"

"That's his fifth body," I realized, "you've recreated a body five times now. You've cheated death _five_ times."

"But- how-how did you manage to transfer your _animus_-"

"I'm still the same, our mother made sure of that." He pulled the collar of his shirt down, revealing a bird marking on his neck.

"The mark of a murderer," I said.

"For your nephew, Perdix, who used pushed off a tower," Percy stated.

Daedalus' expression darkened. "I didn't-"

"Sure, he just 'lost his balance'," Percy corrected himself sarcastically.

Once more, he went off on a tangent about his regret and wrongdoings.

"Okay, whatever," I interrupted him, "just give us Ariadne's string."

Daedalus sighed again. "You're several hours too late, I'm afraid."

I felt a look of outrage appear on my face before I exclaimed, "You've seen camp! You've seen how many innocent campers there are and you're still willing to help Kronos?"

"He promised me freedom. Once he-"

"So you don't care about the camp, what was the point of you even going there if you were going to help Luke?" My grip tightened on my blades, my knuckles turning white as a result.

"You don't stand a chance against Kronos' army," he replied gravely.

Annabeth pushed over some easels, blueprints flying everywhere. "I _used_ to respect you! Now I see you as a coward! Athena's children are wise _and_ clever, but it seems like that trait died with you two thousand years ago!"

Much to my shock, he hung his head in shame. "It was just too good to refuse."

At that moment, the door burst open, two giants, an empousa in a cheerleading outfit, and Nico came in. However, leading them was an all to familiar ghost.

"Minos," I greeted in an unwelcoming way.

"Arina, one of my favourite demigods to say the least," he responded before glaring at Daedalus, "it has been a long time, old friend."

"What is the meaning of this?" Daedalus asked the empousa.

"Change of plans. You've been a great service, but Minos provided one better by giving us this demigod." She gestured toward my brother.

"Nico, what did I say about trusting Minos?" I snapped at my brother.

"He told me you guys were in trouble!" he defended himself.

"Where's Luke?" Percy demanded.

"He's... busy." A devilish look crossed her face. "But don't worry, you'll see him soon. For now, I'll have a snack."

I heard whispering behind me, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. After that, the fight began. I zeroed in on my brother, slashing at the giants before rolling over to him and cutting his chains.

"What did I say about doing stupid stuff too?"

"Saving Percy and you guys isn't stupid."

"Oh right, it's _reckless_ and crazy!"

"Spirits of the dead!" Minos bellowed.

"No!" I yelled.

"You cannot control me, children of Hades! I am a free spirit now!" he exclaimed, turning to Nico, "You thought you were bringing back your sister, but you were actually bringing me back! I'll kill the traitor!"

Figures appeared, dead ones to be exact. My mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out how to get rid of them.

"I'm the son of Hades! Begone!" my brother exclaimed.

"I am the ghost king, child, they-"

"No," Nico stated, glaring, "I am the ghost king." He stabbed the ground with his black sword, a giant crack forming and swallowing the spirits and Minos.

I managed to dodge a swing to my head from a giant, who chose then to attack while I was distracted. I summoned shadows and used them to tie the giant's arms down, tightening them until he exploded into a cloud of monster dust.

"You okay, Neeks?" I asked my brother, who collapsed to the ground.

"Y-yeah... f-fine," he replied as Rachel helped him get wings on.

What is she- oh! This is what they were whispering out!

I grabbed a pair of wings and quickly fitted them onto myself, throwing Percy and Annabeth a pair too. Soon, we all had donned the copper wings and were ready for flight.

Percy was yelling something but I was too busy thinking about where we could fly. Once I thought of something, I pushed open the windows with the help of Rachel.

"None of us know how to fly!" Nico argued.

"Well, it's never too late to learn."

With that, we all jumped out of the window.

* * *

Flying was... not one of my favourites. For starters, I could get shot down because it was Zeus' territory. Also, I didn't trust our wings one bit. I was glad we ditched them in a garbage can.

From there, we decided to find a way back into the Labyrinth to get to Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth, Nico, and I went to get a prism to contact camp while Rachel and Percy went to get a ride.

"Percy's dense, he probably doesn't realize," I reassured Annabeth, who was mildly jealous of Percy choosing to go with Rachel.

"Ugh... I hate that that's true. Like, half of the camp probably has a crush on him and he doesn't even know," she agreed, shaking her head.

"Well, once they get to know him, he's too much of a hassle to be in a relationship with," I remarked defensively, mainly out of fear of her thinking I liked him.

"Arina, I'm not accusing you of liking him."

Dammit, she knows me too well.

"Whatever..." I rolled my eyes before picking up a good-sized prism.

"That works," she nodded before grabbing it and paying for it.

Once outside, we made the call to Camp Half-Blood. She did the talking while I continued to scold my brother.

"You trusted him to tell you the truth?" I snapped, crossing my arms.

"Well, who else could I ask? I didn't know where you were and-"

"I told you I'll be in the Labyrinth."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts, Neeks, after we finish this fight at camp, I'll let Bianca yell at you unless you want to Iris-Message her right now," I offered.

His eyes widened. Sputtering, he says, "N-no, I rather have her yell at me in Elysium."

"Good," I stated before swinging my arm around his neck and giving him a noogie.

"Hey!"

"I didn't say you were-"

"Guys, you done? We should get going," Annabeth said, interrupting us.

I rolled my eyes before following her to the parking lot where I saw Rachel and Percy getting into an expensive-looking car.

"How'd you get this ride?" I inquired after sliding in with the other following me.

"Um..." Rachel distracted herself with the junk food, the others pigging out as well while I just stared at it apprehensively.

Something about this whole thing felt... odd. How did she get this expensive car? It didn't look like she brought any money for that matter.

"Where to, Miss Dare?" the chauffeur asked her.

"Um... just keep driving, I'll tell you," she responded.

I stared out the window before being hit by a headache. It didn't hurt that much, but I still winced by its sudden appearance.

"You okay?" Percy asked me, looking at me with a mildly concerned expression.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I lied, rubbing my forehead.

He looked like he didn't believe me, but he didn't press further.

A short while later, Rachel made the driver stop us at a mining museum. Once there, we headed down a mine shaft she claimed was the entrance into the maze.

Turns out, it was.

While we were in the maze, Annabeth and Rachel started talking, which did _not_ result in her yelling at all, much to my surprise. They were discussing architecture, so I decided to hang back with the boys instead.

"Thanks for trying to rescue us," Percy said to my brother.

"I owe you," was his response.

Then there was a tense silence.

"Wow, you're so much like Dad, Neeks," I swung my arm around his neck again.

For starters, the only reason I was doing that was because I'm shorter than all my friends, so who knows how much longer I'll be able to do it. Soon, Nico might even be taller than me, then I'll be stuck being the short one.

"I can see it too," Percy stated in agreement.

My brother rolled his eyes, pushing me away from him as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Since when am I like him?"

"I dunno, since you ran away?" I guessed offhandedly.

Before we could continue further, we ran into Rachel and Annabeth, literally.

"What?"

We came to a crossroads, but one road smelled particularly familiar.

"Eucalyptus," Percy stated, exchanging glances with Annabeth.

"Luke's entrance," I said as well, staring at the tunnel.

"I'm going through it," he stated, causing me to stare at him in shock.

"We're all gonna go-"

"No, what if he gets his hands on Rachel, or maybe Nico and Arina? He said he wanted them both," he pointed out, but I could also see the other reason why he didn't want us to tag along. He was worried about what Annabeth would do if she saw Luke again.

"Take this, just be careful." Annabeth handed him her Yankees cap.

"Don't be stupid, I don't wanna hold another funeral for you," I warned.

He nodded his head before continuing down the tunnel, disappearing once he slipped on the cap.

"He's gonna do something stupid, we all know that," Rachel admitted.

"Well, have some faith in the Seaweed Brain," Annabeth countered.

I rolled my eyes. "Like at Mount St. Helens?"

"Okay, maybe that wasn't a good example," she replied.

Unfortunately, Rachel was right. A mere moment later, we heard yelling. Naturally, we ran towards the source.

We appeared on Mount Tam, overlooking the ocean. I turned to the side and saw a ginormous black fortress at the peak of the mountain.

"God... such a Barnacle Boy," I grumbled under my breath before running up there.

The others followed behind me, Rachel being the first to catch up to me. We eventually arrived in the palace, seeing Percy running in slow-motion away from Luke, who had golden eyes for some reason and a scythe.

"Percy!" Rachel yelled, throwing something at Luke.

She threw a plastic, blue hairbrush at him, hitting him in between the eyes. He stopped, his eyes turning back to their original blue.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, confused.

"Luke, what-" Annabeth was cut off by Percy grabbing her shirt and pulling her away from the fortress.

"After them!" Luke bellowed, his voice sounding much more ancient than usual.

"No!" I stomped my foot just as my brother clapped his hands, an earthquake erupting in the building before a giant rock burst through the marble floors.

I grabbed my brother's arm before pulling him back towards the tunnel. We all kept on running, not stopping once to look back.

* * *

We all stopped running when we were all gasping for air, collapsing together in a cavern.

Annabeth was crying the whole time, so I decided to comfort her.

"What you guys did in there was... amazing," Percy complimented, looking at Nico and I.

"Eh, we knew you would do something stupid," I shrugged, my arms still around my best friend.

"Wh-what happened to him?" Annabeth lifted her head, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"He's possessed by Kronos, I saw it happen. He was lying in the coffin, and then Ethan-"

"Nakamura?" I inquired.

"Yeah, _him_," he said the last word with dislike.

"What happened next?" Rachel questioned, pressing further.

"Ethan pleaded loyalty to him, renouncing the gods or whatever. Then this weird mist came out and came into Luke's body. Then he stood up and his eyes were glowing gold." Percy finished his explanation quickly.

"No, he's still there, I-"

"Annabeth, he's gone. He gave himself up to-"

"No! You saw what happened when Rachel hit him! That was him!"

"Yeah, maybe Kronos didn't have full control-"

I motioned him to shut up because I had an awfully bad feeling where this would go.

"You want to make him the villain! You want him to be evil! You don't know him as I did!" she exclaimed, pushing me away and glaring at Percy.

"Why do you keep defending him?" he retorted.

"Guys, chill, let's not-" Rachel began before being stopped.

"Stay out of this, _mortal_ girl," Annabeth spat before her voice broke and she started sobbing again.

I returned to my position of comforting her, which she gratefully accepted.

"We should get going, he'll have monsters after us," Nico stated, pushing himself up.

I nodded in agreement before helping Annabeth up.

Once we were all ready, we continued our trek, which was shorter than I anticipated.

"We need to get to New York, can you-" Percy stopped midway, staring at something.

Annabeth and I both froze, recognizing the item immediately. A red Rasta cap, something Grover wore practically religiously.

Percy picked up the hat, a look of shock and fear crossed his face.

Before the others could say anything, I broke into a run. I saw a trail, large footprints and goat-prints going left. I heard them yell something as they struggled to catch up to me.

I came into a cavern with large stalagmites coming down from the top. Then, I saw Tyson sitting beside a river with Grover lying on his lap.

"Tyson!" I yelled sliding down the hill on my heels.

"Arina!" he greeted warmly.

"What happened? Is he okay?" I asked as the others caught up to me.

"Big monsters. Angry men with swords. We got near here. Grover was excited. He ran here. Then he fell, like this," Tyson replied.

I stared at him, glancing at Percy to see he was alive and conscious still. "He's not dead."

"How can you be sure?" Nico inquired.

"Percy's still alive." I gestured to him. "And I can sense if he died or not."

My brother seemed skeptical. "You can't do that, he doesn't have a soul."

"Well, guess I'm special, aren't I?"

"Grover, wake up," Percy said to his friend.

Fortunately enough, he let out a low groan in response. Then, Annabeth splashed water on his face. He woke up, spluttering.

After filling him on what had happened, we all came to a collective agreement to where we were, and what laid in the next cave.

"This is Rachel, clear-sighted." I pointed to her. "And this is Grover, satyr, and Tyson, cyclops and Percy's brother." I pointed to them after.

They nodded to each other.

"You're pretty," Tyson commented, which I saw made Annabeth mad.

Once Annabeth and Percy helped Grover up, we ventured into the next cave. What inside left us all speechless.

The whole cave was surrounded by crystals, ranging from red, green, and blue. As well, exotic plants grew all over the place. Above us, the ceiling looked like the night sky in Nevada when we went there last winter. In the centre of the room laid a bed surrounded by animals that I thought were extinct. However, on the bed was something that oddly surprised me. Pan, the god of the wild.

"Lord Pan!" Grover collapsed at the foot of the bed in amazement.

We all proceeded forward carefully as Pan began talking, but I zoned out as I had another headache.

It started as a dull throbbing when we entered the room, but it turned into a full-blown headache once the others started talking. Fortunately, I managed to keep my expression neutral so the others wouldn't notice.

I tried figuring out what could've caused my headache. Maybe it was because of all of the things that were supposed to be dead were in one room with me. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep I've been having since we entered the Labyrinth. Really, there could be a million different reasons.

I realized then the others that the others were kneeling, so I followed suit as I tried thinking of ways to lessen my headache.

Things were said, I don't know what because I must've zoned out, but Grover looked close to tears. Then, Pan started addressing individually, well, the exception was Nico for some reason.

He stared at me. "Daughter of Hades, you're path from here is... not greatest. The Fates have chosen to give you the worst path, but don't despair, you'll find happiness at the end of this long, winding road."

I grew uncomfortable then. Two gods now have stated they pitied me for something the Fates have decided, which seriously scares me. What's gonna happen to me? Clearly, I'm not gonna die, right? He would've said it... right?

"My dear satyr, will you carry this message on?" He turned to Grover, his eyes twinkling.

"I-I can't."

"You can, I believe you can. Now, I need you to release me," he insisted.

"I d-don't-"

"I understand," he stated, "my name is Pan, which now means all. You all must spread the word to all the dryads, satyrs, and other nature spirits of my death. Then, you _all_ can recreate the wild, even if it's a little bit, it's better than nothing."

Grover nodded shakily before saying, "I... I release you."

The god gave one last smile before his body turned into mist, dissipating into each one of us. Then, everything else in the room turned to dust, disappearing as well.

We were left in a dark cave causing Percy to flick on his flashlight and checking on his friend.

"Let's go," Grover announced, "We must tell them the god of the Wild is dead. The great Pan has died."

* * *

Getting back to New York was harder than I thought. After what we just witnessed, I didn't expect anything less.

Soon we found an alleyway where Percy summoned a couple of pegasi. Then, he said goodbye to Rachel, which I saw made Annabeth jealous.

"He probably doesn't even know," I whispered to her as I struggled to mount on my pegasus.

"Yeah... maybe..." she fidgeted with her dagger, not making eye contact with me.

"Just leave me! I don't wanna go back!" Nico exclaimed after many failed attempts at mounting his steed.

"C'mon, we need you," Percy coaxed.

Nico crossed his arms and looked away, but then Annabeth said something to him, which led him to mount a terrified-looking pegasus.

"Percy, mine doesn't let me mount either," I complained to him, leaning against the wall.

I saw Percy's ride talk to mine, they seemed to be arguing.

"Apparently you and your brother smell like dead people," he elaborated.

"Oh, isn't that compliment," I stated sarcastically as he helped me mount mine after calming it down.

"How did you ride them at camp?" he inquired as he mounted his, which I think was named Blackjack.

"I don't know, I road one named Porkpie," I replied with a shrug before we took off.

Once in the air, he and I started talking.

"You're brother's riding Porkpie."

"Okay, maybe he smells more like death than me." I shrugged in response.

Not long after, we landed in the centre of the cabin area, Chiron and the leader of the Cloven of Elders greeting us. Well, Chiron greeted us, the satyr was just angry.

We explained to them what happened, Kronos being back and the monsters having the string. As well, Grover tried telling the old satyr Pan was dead, but he didn't believe him.

"We'll worry about the matter of Pan later. Now, we must defend the camp," Chiron stated, dismissing the topic.

We soon headed for the clearing near Zeus' Fist, which was where everyone else was, fully decked out in armour. Naturally, Annabeth went off into a tent for the Athena cabin and discussed the strategy with her siblings.

I changed into a regular set of armour, like a helmet and breastplate. However, they ran out of shields and greaves, so I decided I'll just my powers considering the number of shadows surrounding the area.

"You ready, Neeks?" I asked my brother as I tried helping into a set of armour.

He refused my help immediately. "Yeah, and can you _not_ call me 'Neeks'?"

"Hey, I stopped calling you my brother like you wanted, what else do you want me to call you?" I exclaimed in frustration.

"I don't know, maybe, my _name_?"

"Ugh... you're impossible, okay?" I crossed my arms before shaking my head.

"No, _you're_ the impossible one," he spat in return before walking away from me.

Silena came up to me then, helping me adjust the straps on my breastplates.

"Ugh... Nico's being moody as Hades," I grumbled.

"Well, that makes sense considering that's your father," she pointed out.

"Whatever..."

She stared at me, puzzling me.

"What?"

"Um... nothing," she responded before walking off to help other campers.

Soon, the earth began to tremble before the army burst forth from the fissure of rocks.

The battle was amazing to watch from the back. Well, ignoring the fact demigods could be dying, but you get the idea. Catapults firing at the giants, dracaenae hitting the traps and then getting shot down, it easily became the most organized fight I ever saw. Unfortunately, organization and fighting don't go hand-in-hand.

I saw my brother summon a dozen of undead soldiers to stop the invading dracaenae that were heading for the camp. Then, I saw Tyson riding a giant. Lastly, a forest fire started.

I joined into the fray of fighting, summoning my blades and slashing at all the monsters that crossed my path, disintegrating on impact. I brought up shadow shields on campers knocked down before shooting it straight through their attackers.

"You're the daughter of Hades, huh?" A demigod appeared in front of me, wielding a sword and started fighting me.

"Yeah, so what?" I retorted, feinting a strike to the knee before swinging my arm up and cutting his chin.

"Oh, just making sure."

His response sent a chill down my spine. Making sure _what_? Did Kronos send demigods and monsters after me specifically? It's not like I'll join his army, the gods haven't done anything good for me, but they haven't done anything bad either.

"What about you then?"

"Son of Hecate," he tried hitting my arm, but I summoned a shield just in time before swinging my legs underneath him.

"Oh, great," I replied sarcastically, "you're a magician."

"Hey, no need for the sarcasm."

"You're fighting for Kronos, there _is_ a need for sarcasm."

Just as things starting going well, I got hit by my worst headache yet and overextended. He took this golden opportunity and stab me in the thigh, causing me to collapse.

My headache was making it hard for me to focus on anything around me as my vision blurred from the pain. I was just a sitting duck on the ground, bleeding out.

"ARINA!"

Then, my world went black.

* * *

_ (Dreams)_

_ I appeared in a dark room, I could only make out two figures in the room. A teenage boy and an adult woman, or something that looked like a woman and a boy._

_ "W-why do you need me here?" the guy stuttered._

_ "Because you're the only one she knows. The only one she'll trust," the female responded as her hands glowed._

_ There was a figure lying on a table, but I couldn't tell who, or _what_ it was because it was so dark in the room. The only source of light was some sparingly lit torches surrounding the perimeter of the room._

_ "What are you gonna do to her, exactly?" he asked warily, eyeing the figure._

_ "Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt her. After all, she is my boss' favourite and step-daughter."_

_ "I thought-"_

_ "They're not Olympians, I can work for them still. I already discussed this with Lord Kronos." She put her hands down, which stopped glowing once she did so._

_ "So-"_

_ "We just... _modified_ somethings."_

_ "Like what?"_

_ "Well, she won't be loyal to the Olympians after we finish talking to her. Just follow my lead and you'll understand," the female responded._

_ (Dream ended)_

The first thing I registered was the pain in my thigh. Then, the dull ache in my head. The pain in my thigh was easily the worst. It felt like someone had ripped out on my veins in that one area and crudely shoved it back in before poorly patching up the skin around it.

"Ugh..." I groaned, opening my eyes slowly.

I tried to recall what happened before, but nothing came up clearly. As well, I could have sworn I had a dream, but I couldn't remember any details except for torches.

Once I opened my eyes fully, I saw a person, maybe, with dark, long hair on my left. On my right stood a familiar-looking Asian boy.

"E-Ethan?"

He had a pained look on his face. "Hey... good you're awake now."

I tried pushing myself up, ignoring the increase of discomfort on my thigh. Finally, I managed to get into a sitting up position to observe the room I was in.

It was dark, I think the walls were made from black marble or something along those lines. As well, some torches were lining the wall, producing very little light.

"What... what happened?" I inquired.

The female responded then. "We brought you back from Camp Half-Blood through the tunnels before they collapsed."

At that moment, everything came back to me. I remembered fighting outside of Zeus' Fist with my friends before I ran across a son of Hecate. We fought each other before he managed to stab me in the thigh and I blacked out.

"Wait... where am I?" I asked, more alert now.

"Mount Tam in San Francisco."

Hold on... that means-

"I'm at Kronos' base? Did you guys kidnap me? Why the Hades am I here? Are you guys using me as ransom or-"

"Woah, calm down, it's nothing like that." Ethan's eyes darted to the female when he said the last part, making me trust him less and less.

"Okay then, what is it?" I snapped, crossing my arms.

"We're helping you," the female stated.

I raised my eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, we're trying to destroy the Olympians, correct? And-"

"I'm not helping you."

The female sighed before shaking her head. "The Olympians erased your memory of it, but we have a very valid reason why you should believe and trust us."

What?

"Five years ago, you thought your brother went missing. However, the truth was, the Olympians killed your mother and him."

What? No, that's not-

I felt a spike of pain in the front of my head, almost making me double over in shock. Images flashed in my mind briefly, lightning, arrows flying, and screams of agony. In the end, there was blood everywhere. On the walls, on the furniture, and on twelve figures.

"W-what happened? Why did they-"

"Kill them? Erase your memory of it? Well, Zeus was angry at Hades for siring another child despite the oath of the Big Three. He got revenge by killing your family with the help of the rest of the Olympians. Hades wanted to reclaim you, but he was stopped. They altered your memory to make you think your mother was addicted to drugs so she was never around and that your brother went missing.

"I managed to return those memories to you, but they may take some time to come back fully due to being suppressed for so long. You might experience headaches and blackouts due to this, but they'll stop happening by the end of the summer," she explained to me quickly.

I nodded my head. My brain felt fuzzy at that moment, but I guess some of her story made sense. However, some parts felt weird, but I just rolled with it.

"Who are you?" I questioned after a lengthy silence.

"I am Hecate, goddess of magic, and I like to welcome you to Kronos' army," she introduced with a flourish of her arms.

"But, first, you need to pledge loyalty to Kronos," Ethan stated.

I took a deep breath before saying, "I, daughter of Hades, renounce the gods. They killed my family, and they shall pay dearly. I'll aid Kronos in crippling the Olympians and destroying Olympus. I pledge loyalty to Kronos, and Kronos alone."


	21. I've done worst things

** (A/N: Mwahaha, I'm great, aren't I? Please, please, PLEASE comment or review either Plan A or Plan B. As I previously stated, I need your guys' opinion for the story. I need to know before I get to the HoO arc because it may or may not affect that part of the story. As well, I'll be making up existentially a vast majority of this chapter. **

** On another note, I feel like my OC is a Mary Sue so I might change some stuff up because I don't wanna make my story a boring, overly powerful one. Thank you, and enjoy!)**

Well, I've done worse things compared to joining Kronos' army. Actually, to be honest, it was a lot better than camp in some ways.

For starters, they had basic plumbing and the dinner conversations did _not_ result in a food fight whatsoever. Well, we just had dinner in our rooms. The bonus was we didn't get attacked by monsters because they were all faithful towards Kronos. Apparently, if they do kill us, they'll be killed as well.

Downfalls were that we had to share one giant room with everyone, well, the people that were the same gender as us. Then, there were bunks.

Overall, I think there were about fifty female demigods and at least a hundred male ones. Way more than Camp Half-Blood. I _almost_ feel bad for what's going to happen. I was friends with some of them, but a vast majority I disliked so it wasn't that bad. Long as my old friends aren't stupid, they won't get hurt.

Later on, around mid-July, I discovered from my roommates that camp had a spy in it the whole time, that's how Luke found out about the quests. Turns out the spy was Silena!

Currently, I was in charge of monitoring camp and seeing if any more half-bloods leave or anything along those lines. Our leader, who was the demigod I fought and got stabbed by, Alabaster Torrington, said it'll be better if I didn't go outside the fortress. Apparently, everyone thinks I'm dead, even my brother and dad.

The day of the fight, Alabaster created a fake body of me, creepy, I know, and hid it. Then, when he was fighting me, he had one of his siblings teleport the body to where I was after he teleported me into the woods. Confusing, I know. There was also a lot of magic mumbo-jumbo, creating a Mistform spirit and sending it to the Fields of Asphodel to fool my dad and half-brother.

"So, how was the funeral?" I asked Silena, examining my nails lazily.

"Um... well, Annabeth was crying more than she did at Percy's," Silena responded nervously, glancing around.

I only started Iris Messaging Silena quite recently, so I was trying to catch up on everything I missed.

"Oh..." I felt bad about that, faking my death.

Well, I didn't really have a choice, did I? I was kidnapped, my memories fixed, then instated into Kronos' army.

Okay, I get joining his army's bad and all, and my reasons for staying are crappy, but it's a lot better than Camp Half-Blood. We can insult the gods freely, we don't do the gods bidding all the time, well, just Kronos and Alabaster, but still, we had _freedom_. We could leave whenever we want, of course, long as we come back and not betray the army. I could see the appeal now.

The Olympians _murdered_ my family, I can remember it now.

Five years ago, I was returning home from school. I saw the door was unlocked and heard yelling from inside. I pushed open my door just a crack and saw all the Olympians surrounding my brother and my mother, who were forced into a corner. Words were said, I don't recall exactly what, but my brother started crying.

Then, that's when shit got real. A guy in a blue, pinstriped suit, who I later discovered was Zeus, ordered them to 'strike'. All at once, all the gods attacked my mortal family. Lightning, water, grapevines, fire, even a tree sprouted out of the floor and speared them.

Athena turned and saw me, and with a wave of her hand, I blacked out. From there, I figured out she and Hera altered my memories, being the only ones capable.

How could they do this to my family? The only family I cared about? My five-year-old brother, who was just gonna start school, and my mother, who for some reason, I don't have any clear memories of (Hecate said it's probably due to the Olympians messing with it). Gone, dead, _murdered_ by the hands of the Olympians.

How _couldn't_ I hate them and all they stood for?

"What about the others? And my brother?" I questioned Silena, focussing on our conversation rather than my tragic past.

"Your brother disappeared after, Percy said he was heading to the Underworld to look for you. Katie and Miranda were pretty upset too, and I'm not sure about the boys. You know how they are, they don't really show their emotions compared to us," Silena answered with a mere shrug.

I sighed, leaning against the post of my bunk bed. "Well, he won't find me down there, that's for sure..."

"Percy said he felt-"

"You know they just created a Mistform version of me, right? Alabaster created a fake body and everything," I responded.

She seemed surprised by this revelation. "I... I actually didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, whatever," I stated, "anything new in the camp?" I inquired, wanting a change in topic.

To be honest, Kronos' army is great and everything, but I kinda didn't trust the Titans. Okay, that might be countering everything I just said but I just have trust issues okay? For starters, the leader of the demigods stabbed me. Later, I got kidnapped. Lastly, I'm kinda obligated to join their army.

I believe in their cause, but I don't believe in _them_. I want the Olympians gone, faded, whatever, but I'll do that on my own if I have too. I don't want any demigods hurt, they're just pawns like me. Well, most of them are.

"Um... new in what way?"

I raised my eyebrow, observing her for a moment. "Did something happen between you and Beckendorf?"

"Um... he asked me out."

My eyes widened. "Hey, congrats! I told you he liked you, guess he finally had the guts to tell you."

"Yeah, well, it was during a Capture the Flag game."

"Anything else I should know? Like anything related to planning the battle next year?"

She seemed excited about talking about her new boyfriend until I mentioned the impending war the following year involving either Percy or I.

"No... we still haven't heard the prophecy yet. I think we're gonna start working next year," she answered, twirling a strand of her hair.

"Hm, okay then."

"Arina? Alabaster needs you!" someone yelled from the entrance of the room.

"Yeah, in a minute!" I responded.

Silena raised her eyebrows at me. "Was that Ethan? What's going on between you two anyway? You always seem awkward when-"

I felt my face heat up. "There-there's nothing!" I stuttered.

She laughed. "Okay, say whatever you want. Talk to you later."

"Bye," I said before waving my hand through the Mist and shoving the prism I was using into my new bag.

I got up quickly, rushing towards the door as I slipped on a leather jacket.

Since I was taken so abruptly, I obviously didn't have any of my stuff. Therefore, a couple of weeks ago I was allowed to go out with another demigod to buy some clothes and necessities.

"What?" I asked Ethan as I found him leaning against the doorframe.

"C'mon," he stated before motioning me to follow him.

I walked beside him, trying to avoid eye contact because of what Silena mentioned.

I guess Ethan's cute, but nothing is going on between us. We're just... co-workers? Colleagues? Brothers in arms? Something like that. It's not like he likes me or anything, so what's the point of getting my hopes up for nothing?

"What did Silena say about me?" he inquired as we walked.

"Um... nothing, she was just asking about the soldiers, you, Alabaster, and I were the only ones she knew about," I lied, rubbing the back of my neck.

He shook his head. "You're a terrible liar, y'know that, right?"

"I'm not lying."

"Uh-huh, sure, and I'm King of the Gods," he claimed sarcastically with an eye roll.

"If you were, I would kill you." I summoned one of my blades, twirling it around my fingers.

He held up his hands in a form of surrender. "Woah, well, I'm not, so can you point those away from me?"

"Sure," I stated, transforming them back into a ring.

He eventually led me to one of the strategy rooms in the fortress, puzzling me. Why would Alabaster want me in here?

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble, I think," Ethan stated, probably judging from my expression.

"Wow, adding 'I think' just makes me feel way more assured," I replied sarcastically before pushing the door open.

Inside was several other demigods, Alabaster, and a Titan, Prometheus. They were all gathered around a large table with pieces of paper covering it, pencils lying around on the side dejectedly.

They all turned when we came in, making me suddenly self-conscious. All their eyes were focussed on me, every movement, every breath it felt like they were watching me.

I cleared my throat. "You called me?" I tried to act confident, but I was never an actor. I just didn't want them to realize I was so intimidated by them.

Most of theses demigods were ruthless killers that have been persuaded by the Titans to join their cause and destroy Olympus. They'll probably eat me alive if it weren't for my presenting power and father.

"Took you long enough," one of the other demigods grumbled under their breath.

I glared at them, which made them take a scared step back.

Heh, maybe my dad was right about me scaring the crap out of people. I kinda like scaring them, it's fun seeing them jump.

"I found another job for you," Alabaster stated.

"That is?"

"One of your friends was a child of Athena, correct?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well, we want you to join our strategists here."

Huh, since when am I good at strategies? I doubt Annie rubbed off on me like, at all. Maybe she made me more paranoid and junk but definitely not smarter. Pretty sure I _lost_ brain cells while with Jackson.

"Not to be rude and all, but what makes you think I'll be any good at strategies?"

"Well, you understand the camp better than any of us. You were a year-long camper, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but only for a year and a half, then I lived in the Underworld." I crossed my arms.

"You've lived there the most recently, and your best friend was one of the main strategists. I think you'll be the best for figuring out what would work against the demigods there."

I mulled over this for a moment. "Um... I guess so."

"Good, cause we need you for a mission coming up."

The other demigods began explaining in turns what the mission was about, and how it would benefit our end goal. They didn't go into much detail, all they said was about a shipment of supplies. Previously, Silena mentioned some campers might raid the shipment, so I had to devise a counterattack to it.

"Well, they probably send the Ares cabin, maybe even some of Athena and Apollo too." I paused, thinking.

_If we do fail and they manage to successfully raid us, how can we twist it into our success? Maybe we can play with the Ares campers' arrogance or something along those lines._

"What's in the shipment that'll look the most appealing to the campers?"

"Well, there's a lot of ambrosia and nectar-" another son of Hecate, Clement Fledge, began before I interrupted him.

"They get that delivered to them daily, I meant like weapons, gadgets, anything that's unique."

"Um... there's a chariot," suggested Kaila Lovatt, daughter of Hebe.

"Okay, well, if we mess up the raid, they'll definitely take that. Apollo and Ares campers might fight over it..."

"We have a Lydian drakon, only a child of Ares can kill it," Ethan stated, surprising me because he was still in the room.

"There, maybe let them purposely raid it. They take the chariot, Ares and Apollo fight over it. I know the Ares campers, they're way too prideful for their own good. Arguing with Apollo might make them not even consider fighting in the war. Then, we'll send out the drakon, if none of them are there to kill it, it'll immobilize a good portion of the demigods," I explained quickly, glancing at the plans on the table.

There was a lull in the conversation, only being broken by Prometheus.

"What you're suggesting seems plausible and likely to happen. If all goes according to plan, they'll fall for sure," he stated, nodding.

"But we can't just let them raid our shipment!" Clement exclaimed, "We _need _ that stuff!"

"More than we need to defeat the Olympians?" I inquired, raising my eyebrow.

He looked nervous, looking over his notes from a notebook before glancing at Alabaster, who had remained expressionless during the whole conversation.

"Well?" I questioned.

"I agree with your plan. We'll stick with our defences for now, but Prometheus agrees with you. He can foresee some future events, so what you're suggesting will likely occur." He nodded, approving it. "Bring it up to Lord Kronos, he'll make the final call."

We all seemed to agree, some more begrudgingly than others.

"Seems I was right about appointing you as our new strategist."

* * *

Several weeks later, it was early September. Around this time of year, most campers were home and going to school. Some, however, were preparing in camp for the upcoming war. It was less than a year away, Percy had turned fifteen, the war was inevitable.

I was sparring against Ethan that day, just cause. I was promoted to head strategist recently and I wanted to celebrate by fighting someone.

"You sure you want to fight me? I'm pretty good."

I rolled my eyes, strapping on a breastplate and greaves. "I beat Percy, almost. You couldn't beat him in the Labyrinth."

"Okay, he tricked me. I was wearing hand-me-down armour, it was heavy."

"So you're saying you're weak?" I inquired, summoning my blades before materializing a shield out of shadows.

"No, and enough talk, let's fight."

Then we began. He focused on defence, so I chose to go on the offence or else we'll be dancing around each other for hours on end.

I shadow travelled behind him, swinging at his legs. He managed to anticipate this and turn around just in time and kick me back. I wasn't knocked down for long before cutting his left cheek.

"How about no powers? Seems unfair to me."

I rolled my eyes, swinging my blade at my arm before blocking a swing to my shoulder. "Uh-huh, sure, you just know I'll beat you."

"Um, no, I can beat you with or without powers." He swung his legs out from underneath me, putting his sword at my throat. "Yield?"

"Ugh... fine," I grumbled before accepting his hand he offered, being pulled up.

"So what about being better than Jackson?" He was mocking me now, grinning.

"Shut up," I spat, pushing him back before taking off my armour.

"Done already?"

"I have a headache," I lied before turning my blades back into rings and exiting the room.

Ugh... he's so annoying and cute. Wait, I didn't mean cute in _that_ way, like, how a Pikachu or something along those lines. Goofy kind of cute, not attractive kind of cute. I don't like him, despite everything Silena accuses me.

I'll stop thinking about him now. I'll just focus on going back to my room.

"Hey Arina," greeted a voice I have grown to loath.

"What is it, Nathan?"

Nathan was this pompous son of Aphrodite that can't stop flirting with me. Dude, I'm _not_ interested, so shut the Hades up! Kinda seeing the appeal of being a Hunter now, I can castrate boys without consequences. Well, there are consequences, but I get a high-five or something like that too. Unfortunately, _Artemis_ leads them so, fuck no.

"Just checking in on the hottest daughter of Hades here." He slid up next to me, putting an arm around me.

Oh gods, I want to castrate him _so bad_ now.

"Um for starters, I'm the only daughter of Hades alive right now." I pushed him away, turning around to look at him. "Secondly, I'm not interested, so back off."

"What? I'm not doing anything, just being friendly, that's all."

"Cut the act." I turned on my heels and continued marching towards my room, ignoring any further catcalls from him.

Just as I was about to arrive in my room, the bastard showed up again.

"What now?" I groaned.

"Can't I just talk to you?"

I was just about to say something in reply before being hit by an actual headache, distracting me and making me shut my eyes.

The headache was one of the worst I had this past couple of months since I joined the army. It felt like someone was trying to cleave open my head with a battle-axe or something, just a spike of pain in the front of my head.

"What the Styx, Nathan?" I heard someone yell, causing me to open my eyes.

Ethan seemed to be holding Nathan by the scruff of his shirt, anger flaring in his eyes. The latter seemed nonchalant, almost _amused_ by the whole ordeal.

"What do you mean, Ethan? I'm just having a nice chat with Arina here, who seems to be having a headache from being in your presence for too long." The corner of his mouth went up into a smirk as he said this.

"You sure it's not from you? She was fine when she was sparring with me, then she talks to you and she gets a headache. _You_ seem to be the stem of the problem here."

"Ethan, I can handle the damn situation myself," I stated as my headache lessen.

"Yeah, back off, Nakamura. Clearly, she wants-"

"Okay, Nathan, I'll give you five godsdamn seconds to get your sorry ass outta here before I send you to Hades myself!" I threatened, composing myself.

"Wait-"

"One," I began as I focussed the shadows to curl around his body.

"Hold on-" A look of real fear crossed his face as he looked up and down the hallway.

"Two," I continued as the ground started shaking.

"Arina, please-"

"Three," I stated as the temperature dropped in the room.

He looked genuinely afraid now, all cockiness gone.

"You should go now," Ethan remarked with a smirk.

"Four," I said as Ancient Greek chanting was heard, coming from out of the shadows.

Just as I was about to say five, he burst into a run down the hall we just came from, not looking back once.

Once he was out of sight, I stopped the chanting and returned the hallway back to normal.

"Wow," Ethan stated, looking at me with a look of shock mixed with either fear or amazement.

"T-thanks," I stuttered, my legs starting to feel like jelly.

I would've collapse if he didn't catch me just in time. He grasped his hands tightly around my shoulders.

"You okay?"

"M-m-maybe," I responded as my headache returned, much duller than before.

"C'mon," he said before guiding me down the hall further.

If I hadn't known any better, I thought he was leading me to the boys' room. However, once I saw the view out of one window I realized we were heading to the minor infirmary.

Due to the lack of demigods here, we had a small infirmary to deal with injuries. Usually, it was a self-serve area so you had to heal yourself unless you got someone else to help you.

Ethan helped me sit down on one of the cots in the room before going off into the cupboards looking for something. A moment later, he returned with some ambrosia and nectar.

I accepted the godly food quickly, ingesting some of it immediately. The moment I got it in my body, I felt a lot better and less exhausted than I was after I summoned all that stuff to scare Nathan.

"Thanks..." I stated, fiddling with the bottom of my shirt nervously.

"Yeah, no prob," he answered, glancing at the door before sitting beside me.

An awkward silence followed that, which I hated. Silence always meant thinking or looking, which never go well together. I hate when people just stare at you instead of talking, or the fact you have no clue what they're thinking about. They could be criticizing you mentally and you might not even realize it!

Okay, I have _serious_ trust issues now that I think about it.

"Um... how did you know Nathan was there?" I inquired.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something. I saw him bothering you and noticed you got a headache."

"How?"

"Well, you furrow your eyebrows like this." He demonstrated himself, making me laugh by how ridiculous he looked.

"I do not look like that," I argued.

"Um, yeah, you do."

I rolled my eyes, rubbing my arm. "What did you want to ask me?"

He looked away when I asked this. "Um... it's nothing."

I tiled my head to the side. "What is it?"

He turned to face me again, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to tell you... I liked you, and I mean like _like_. I wanted to ask you out."

My mind went blank as I tried comprehending what he just said to me.

He said he _liked_ me, like in a non-friend way. Do people straight up tell people this? Is this a prank? I don't think it's April Fools but-

"Uh, come again?"

Yes, that was my _wonderous_ response to this revelation. I asked him to repeat it. I am _such_ a genius like it's implausible.

"I said I liked you."

Ugh... I heard it right the first time. Wait, how do I respond to that? I should've listened to Silena when she gives me love advice! Who knew it would come in handy one day? All I know is how to reject guys, which was taught to me by my badass hunter friends. Also, scare them.

"Um... cool?"

He deadpanned. "Your response is... 'cool'? Is this like you trying to friendzone me?"

"Um... I don't know yet."

"What do you mean by, you don't know yet?"

"Well, I honestly don't know how to respond to you telling me that. A guy never asked me out before."

He raised his eyebrow at this statement. "I thought you and Jackson were- never mind."

"Wait, what? You thought Percy and I were a _thing_?"

"Well, you guys seemed really close and stuff."

"No, no, no, no, no, he was just a friend. He has a crush on Annabeth anyway," I denied his claim.

"Anyway, about you saying 'I don't know'."

I fidgeted with the bottom of my shirt, thinking. What _do_ I mean by that? Do I like Ethan? I'm not sure, maybe? I've never liked a guy that long, maybe one year at the most, and that was _once_.

"Well," I began, gears whirling in my head.

I'm an ambitious person, that's what my friends said. Also hella stubborn and impatient. Maybe I can give a relationship a try, maybe I'll learn a thing or two about trusting people again.

"I do like you, you're pretty cute after all." After I said this, we both blushed. "And if you asked, I'll say yes. I _would_ go out with you."

His eyes- I mean _eye_ lit up when I said this. "Really?"

"What? You expected me to say no?" I inquired skeptically.

"Well, I didn't know what to expect. You're unpredictable, y'know that, right?"

Huh, I'm unpredictable? Since when? According to who? What?

"Well, I guess we're dating now."

He smiled. "Yes, we are."

* * *

I was made almost deaf by Silena when I told her what happened, which got me some weird looks from my roommates.

"You should've listened to me when I gave you that advice."

"Well, you gave me that advice for other guys!" I argued.

"Still, it works for most guys. If they ask you out or tell you they liked them, you should probably give them an honest response. You-"

"Yada, yada, I don't think I need to know anymore. Who knows how long my relationship with Ethan would last?"

Surprisingly, it lasted longer than I thought. I've heard stories about your first love being short and sweet, but mine was much longer and... yeah. Um... I'll get into that later.

After my conversation with Silena, Ethan snuck into my room and asked me if I wanted to hang out after lights out. Naturally, I said yes.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked down the mountain.

"Somewhere special."

"If you're taking me to Mount Olympus and have a weapon to kill every Olympian, then I'll marry you."

He snorted. "Where can I get a weapon like that?"

"I don't know, Walmart?" I joked.

He laughed, throwing one of his arms around my shoulder before pausing. "Um... is it-"

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. Thanks for asking anyway."

We continued walking like this until we reached a peak. It was surrounded by eucalyptus trees, but it was far away from the Garden of Hesperides fortunately.

"So, what are we doing here?" I inquired.

"What? I just can't sneak out at night with my girlfriend?"

"Hmm..." I tapped my chin, pretending to think. "Depends on the context."

He rolled his eyes before grabbing my hand and pulling me down to the ground so we were sitting.

"But seriously, why?"

"Gods, you weren't kidding when you said you never dated anyone before."

"Well, I'm only fourteen."

"I thought you were fifteen." He looked mildly alarmed, making me laugh.

"I'm _turning_ fifteen in December, idiot." I flicked my finger against his forehead.

"That means I have to get you _two_ gifts then."

I blushed again. "You don't have to get me anything."

"Sure I do, I would be a crappy boyfriend if I didn't."

"It's months away, you don't know what's gonna-"

He turned me around to face him. At that moment I realized how close we were to each other, barely an inch away from one another.

"You should be more optimistic." Then, he kissed me, right on the lips.

My mind went blank the moment his lips touched mine. Honestly, I couldn't explain how I felt at all at that time. How do you even explain your first kiss to someone?

I pulled away first, staring back at him, wide-eyed and speechless.

"Sorry," he stated, looking away sheepishly.

"No, I j-just didn't expect it," I said, finally regaining my ability to speak.

He looked back at me, a playful smile on his lips once more. "You wanna do that again? Unless you-"

This time, I initiated the kiss, interrupting him mid-sentence.

I felt goosebumps going up my arms as I fell on top of him, our movements becoming more passionate by the second. My body felt like it was tingling as we broke for a breath of air before going back full force.

He pulled away this time, whispering into my ear. "Maybe we should go inside soon."

Just his voice against my ear made me feel all tingly again. I had to control myself from putting my hand inside his shirt despite the fact I desperately wanted to.

"Y-yeah... we should..." I agreed reluctantly.

What? I've never had a boyfriend for starters. Secondly, I never kissed someone like this before, or in general! Of course, I was eager to do more of it and maybe even make-out! Well, I guess I should be careful and all, but what's life without a little risk?

We kissed for a couple more minutes, but they felt like seconds to me. We were finished before I knew it.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back to your room." He offered me his hand, which I gratefully accepted as he pulled me up.

We walked by towards the fortress without talking, just his arm around me and me leaning against his chest.

"That was... nice."

"Pfft? That's all? It was just _nice_?" he exclaimed, feigning offence.

"Well, what do I compare it too? I never had a boyfriend, nonetheless _kissed_ someone," I stated in my defence.

He rolled his eyes, pecking me on the forehead before steering me towards my room. "You're adorable, you realize that?"

"Ha, as if, I am a vicious killing machine," I declared before kissing him quickly and walking into my room, "night!"

"Night," he whispered before walking down to his room.

I tiptoed around my roommates' bunks, slipping into mine without changing my clothes. I avoided making any noise unless I wanted a rude awakening tomorrow.

As I laid in my bed, I couldn't stop thinking about kissing Ethan. I still felt his lips against mine whenever I closed my eyes and felt my body on top of his. I could feel his hot breath against my neck, making my whole body tingle as goosebumps reappeared on my arm.

* * *

In December, a little after my birthday, Ethan got me a late present. He claimed it 'had taken longer than expected' to make or something. Naturally, I felt ashamed that he got something _made_ for my birthday while I didn't even know when his was.

"Please! Just tell me!" I begged as we walked through a park.

We were having another date before he went off on a mission to retrieve something from the Underworld. I would've been chosen, but, my father could've sensed me entering the Underworld which would raise too many questions considering I'm 'already dead'.

"Nope, I don't want you to worry about it." He shook his head, not revealing his birth date to me.

"How about the month? Just tell me the month."

"Well, I was born in 1992 if that helps." He offered me a cheeky grin, which led me to playfully slap in the shoulder.

"I already know that, dingus. How the Hades can you be older than me?" I questioned, crossing my arms, glaring at him.

"C'mon, does it really matter when my birthday is?" He slipped his arm around my shoulder again.

"Yes, it does. You said you got something _made_ for my birthday! What am I gonna do for yours then? Like, I'll feel guilty and stuff..." I grumbled.

"Rina, it's fine."

Rina was the nickname he started calling me around mid-November, and I was cool with it. To be fair, there weren't that many options for nicknames. Zombie Girl? No, that's weird. Ri? Doesn't look like it's pronounced r-ee. Na? Okay, that's just a straight-up _weird_ one.

"It may be for you, but not for me."

"Okay, I'll tell you then if it makes you feel better."

My eyes lit up. I uncrossed my arms

"_After_ I give you my gift."

I recrossed my arms, glaring at him. "Stop doing that."

"You're cute when you're angry." He pecked my forehead again, moving his arm away from my shoulder. He slipped his hand in mine, making me uncross my arms, pulling me along with him to a bench by the water overlooking the San Fransisco Bay Area.

"Ugh... you keep on calling me cute and adorable, which I'm _not_ by the way."

He sighed, pulling me down so we sat facing each other on the bench. "If I tell you my birthday, would you stop being mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's get on with it then."

He smiled. "Happy late fifteenth birthday." He handed me a square, flat box, about the size of my palm. It was navy blue and had a red ribbon going diagonal along the top and bottom corner.

"Um... can I open it?" I tried to hide the fact I was excited to open it and see what took him so long to give to me. As well, I'm incredibly impatient.

"Go ahead."

I pulled the ribbon off the top and bottom, sticking my finger under a small notch on the side. I pulled the lid up, it popping back quite easily once I pushed it high enough, staying attached to the box due to hinges.

I stared, dazzled by the item inside. It was a bracelet, but not a regular one. It had six charms hooked on it, which were all either gold or silver from the looks of it. The actual bracelet was a silver chain, I think.

"Wow..." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I said the first word that popped in my head.

"Yeah... I got a friend of mine to make it. I bought the bracelet, but they made the charms," he explained, avoiding my eyes and flushing.

I blushed as well, amazed that he would do this for me even though we've only been dating for barely three months. "I c-can't believe you got this for me."

"You like it?"

"I love it." I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug before kissing him again.

"Glad you like it." He scratched the back of his neck, still looking flustered.

I carefully took it out of the box, unclasping it carefully before wrapping it around my right wrist.

"Lemme help." He held the bracelet flat out, letting me put my wrist on top. Then, he wrapped it around and clasped it shut.

"This is... beautiful." I held up my wrist, admiring all the charms.

"Five things that reminded me of you, and one thing to remind you of me," he elaborated as I examined each charm.

The first gold one was of a tiny, old-fashioned camera.

"For your love of photography."

The next one was silver, which was two bones crossed over each other.

"Your dad."

The third one was golden and it looked like a bird of some sort with little engravings in the tail feathers.

"A phoenix, your favourite mythical animal."

"You know what my favourite _real_ animal is?"

"Peacock," he responded, pecking me on the cheek.

The fourth one was of a silver constellation, the Big Dipper.

"You love astronomy, don't you?"

"It's one of the many things I dabble in."

"I gave you a bow once and you missed like, thirty times."

"I dabble, doesn't mean I'm any good."

The fifth was of a golden heart with some words engraved on the bottom.

"A heart with the words 'Forever and Always' to show my love for you."

My cheeks went bright pink in a second. He _never_ said he loved me before, ever. He said I was cute, hot, sexy even, but never _love_. I never even said it back to him.

"Then the last is a scale for me."

It was a simple silver scale, perfectly balanced with nothing on either side.

I pulled him into a kiss. "I love you too."

We kissed for a couple of minutes before pulling apart, both of us blushing as the sun began to set on the cold December evening.

"Maybe we should get back to the fortress. Y'know, I have a mission and all next week, Alabaster wants to brief me and get a strategy from you."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a stupid reason for us to stop kissing."

"Yeah but this is a really important meeting. Apparently, Iapetus is coming along to help me steal your father's sword and rally some of the creatures down there."

"Ugh... I'll be way better than you to rally the spirits of the Underworld, like, I've known them for half a year."

"You know why." He offered me his hand, pulling me up from the bench.

We walked hand-in-hand for a bit until we neared a tree with a big enough shadow.

"We can always-"

"I'm fine with shadow travelling." I clasped his hand firmly before pulling us into the shadow, envisioning us appearing in the strategy room Alabaster told us to meet them in.

We appeared in the room, seeing everyone else gathered around the table talking.

"Hope we didn't miss anything." I deposited the box into my pocket before pushing my way through the other strategists to see their plan so far.

"Nothing, we're just discussing possible entries," Kaila responded as we stared at a crude map of the Underworld.

"What are some entrances we can use?" Clement asked, me being the only one that lived in the Underworld.

"There are three entrances I can name off the top of my head: the one in LA guarded my Charon, the one in Manhattan that has to be accessed by music, and the one through Tartarus." I studied the map, trying to remember if there were any other ways.

"Manhattan's out of the question, same goes with the LA one. Charon isn't being persuaded to side with the Titans, and I'm not sure if we're able to access Tartarus." Clement shook his head before looking to Alabaster for approval.

"He's right, unfortunately. No demigod can enter through there, and if they did, Hades will know for sure," Alabaster agreed.

"Are there any smaller locations?" Ethan inquired, joining in.

"Well, the Labyrinth, but it was destroyed. Honestly, though, I don't-" I froze as an idea appeared in my mind.

"What?" Kaila questioned.

"Well, there is _one_ entrance we could try, but it's far more-"

"I don't care how difficult it is. What is it?" Alabaster snapped.

"The goddess Melinoe has a cave she uses to enter the world of the living to haunt people. She might be willing to help if you offer her something good."

Alabaster tapped his chin. "Okay, let's go with that. Any other entrances?"

"No, there might be small pockets here and there, but otherwise it's hard to get there unless your dead." I paused, thinking. "Well, you could easily shadow travel there via hellhound as well. However, if my father figures out you stole his sword, he'll lock the whole place down, meaning you can't shadow travel out."

"Well, why don't I just go with a hellhound, and if he locks the place down, I go to the Melinoe?" Ethan suggested.

"Yeah, that could work." I nodded in agreement.

"Okay, brief Master Iapetus about this," Alabaster ordered him, waving off.

My boyfriend nodded before flashing me a smile and leaving.

I stared at the door after he left before the others brought me back to the meeting.

"Um... what else?" I tried fighting the blush on my face, focussing on the rough sketches on the table instead.

"We need a plan for the upcoming war in the summer. We have some ideas but we're not-" Clement began before I interrupted him again.

"Wait, we're _still_ gonna do this war in the summer? What about winter? If we do it later in the year, I'll be turning sixteen and it makes me eligible for the prophecy," I pointed out.

"Yes, it would, but the gods would know something's up. Anyway, the distractions already set into motion."

The distraction was for the gods. While we sieged an attack on Mount Olympus and Manhattan, Typhoon, who Jackson woke up, will be keeping the Olympians busy. Fortunately for us, not all the Olympians will be participating in this battle so it'll make it more likely Typhoon will defeat them.

According to our sources, Hades is keeping Demeter and Persephone in the Underworld during the fight. As well, Oceanus has joined the battle and is attacking Poseidon's kingdom, meaning that pathetic god is going to be busy underwater the entire time.

"Okay then, what else?"

"Well, you said the Ares cabin is angry at the Apollo cabin, so that might prevent them from fighting in the upcoming war."

"Yeah, _might_, they might actually fight though, so keep that Lydian drakon back just in case," I stated.

"What about all the mortals? They can't see through the Mist, but they're probably gonna see like a terrorist attack or something," Kaila mentioned.

"We could kill them," Zeke Sharp, son of Nike, suggested, crossing his arms.

"Um, no," I disagreed, "our fights with the _Olympians_, not the mortals. Not their fault all-powerful beings live near them."

"Okay, what do you suggest instead?" he questioned, "Evacuate the whole godsdamn city?"

Suddenly, the Great Prophecy popped into my head. However, one of the lines stood out to me. It seemed important and logical that we follow through with it. What's the point of fighting a prophecy? As well, we do have the god of dreams on our side.

"'_And see the world in endless sleep'_," I quoted.

"What?"

"That's what the Great Prophecy said. What if that means we need to make everyone sleep in New York? Can't Lord Morpheus do that?" I inquired.

"He can put mortals to sleep, yeah, but not on that large of a scale. New York is gigantic," Kaila said.

"Okay, maybe just the area around the Empire Stae Building? Like, only Manhattan? Then, we can have Lady Hecate put a spell over the entrances and exits, making everyone divert course or something?" I suggested.

"We could, but we need to run this over Lord Kronos and both gods," Alabaster stated.

"Yeah, I'm fine with waiting."

"But what if they say no?" Clement questioned.

"Why would they? The Fates themselves decreed this. The prophecy literally says _sleep_, that has to mean something, right?" I argued.

"These are just speculation, you can't be certain of anything," Zeke countered.

"It's a solid plan and makes logical sense!" I retorted, slamming my hands down on the table.

"Uh... Arina? Can you please calm down?" Kaila asked.

I turned and saw the shadows in the rooms wrap themselves around everyone else. I quickly stopped it, making them all disperse before getting glared at by Zeke.

"That's enough, Arina, you're dismissed for now," Alabaster ordered, "actually, you're all done for the day. We can't continue until Lord Kronos agrees or disagrees with this plan."

We all exited the room, heading in different directions. Of course, the only exception was Kaila and I because we were shared a room.

* * *

Ethan's mission to the Underworld was a complete disaster once Thalia, Nico, and Percy intervened. Apparently, my step-mother sent them after Ethan and Iapetus. Soon, they caught up to them and started fighting. Oh, and this is when the whole thing went downhill _fast_. Iapetus fell into the River Lethe! Now, he doesn't know who he is and is basically useless to us now.

Due to the fact his mission failed horrible, my boyfriend got in _a lot_ of trouble, but I managed to persuade Lord Kronos to give him less of a bad sentence. From the daimons, children of Nyx, they told me that Iapetus _chose_ to fight the demigods while Ethan wanted to return with the sword. With this new information, Lord Kronos just made Ethan be in charge of feeding the monsters.

After he came back, we exchanged late-Christmas presents to each other. I got him this ring with our names and the message on my heart charm carved into the inside. However, he got me a new sword from the Underworld made out of Stygian Iron.

"Okay, what's the big romantic plan?" I questioned sarcastically as we laid beside each other on the cliff of our very first kiss.

It was February now, Valentine's Day to be exact. We decided not to get each other anything and do something together instead that I was... comfortable with? I'm not sure how I feel about it.

We were planning on getting matching tattoos, one on my left shoulder and one on his right.

"Nothing, remember? Unless you wanna fight some monsters, then I'm sure Alabaster can spare a few."

I shrugged, staring up at the partly cloudy sky.

I wanted to get the tattoo, totally, but doesn't it seem like a really big step for five months? It seems so... permanent as well, and it was.

Yeah, there's laser surgery or whatever, but we're doing this _magically_ with one of the other demigod's help. They're gonna do a special spell thing or whatever on our arms, like, I didn't even _know_ children of Hecate could do that.

Am I ready for that kind of commitment? Whenever I commit to something, it never ends well for me. One example? My commitment to stay with my family instead of running away with Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia. What happened? My mother and brother were killed by the Olympians. Need another one? Well, my life at camp. I was committed to helping the Olympians until I discovered what they did to my family. Nothing good in my life has ever lasted long.

"Hey, earth to Rina, come in Rina." Ethan waved his hand in front of my face, shaking me from my inner musings.

"Hm?"

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"The tattoo."

There was a pause.

"You don't have to get it if you don't-"

"I _do_ want it," I said, which was the truth.

"Then what's wrong?"

"I... just think this a big step. I like the idea, yeah, it's cute and romantic-"

"Kinda sexy too," he pointed out with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever, but still. It's pretty big and I have no clue where we're-"

"Y'know you have serious trust issues, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, considering the Olympians altered my memories and I've been lied to by the people I thought I could trust."

"Well, I think you have commitment issues too."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

He turned his body so he was lying on his side, facing my ear. I turned to face him as well, our noses bumping into each other.

"I get you have some issues in your past about it. You're family dying, the Olympians being jerks, but shouldn't you give _us_ a chance? I love you, you know that. I promise I'm not gonna break up with you-"

"What about me? What if I-"

"If you were gonna break up with me, I don't think you would've agreed to this tattoo thing. Unless this is you breaking up with me." A mild look of worry crossed his face, creasing his eyebrows and making me realize how close we were.

"N-no... I'm just-"

"Be more optimistic." With that, he kissed me, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling me closer to his body.

It started as just a kiss, but then it went into a full-out make-out session on the edge of the cliff near a fortress for the Titan of time.

I felt so alive at that moment, his hands running down my back, grabbing me by the waist. His hot breath against my neck, his lips running down my collarbone, I've never felt so... awake? No, that isn't a word to describe it. More like, in the moment. I've never felt so cemented in my whole life.

Naturally, we were interrupted.

"Ah-hem?"

We both looked up, seeing Damien Alcatraz, our 'tattooist', standing over us with his arms crossed.

"Sorry, what time is it?" Ethan pushed himself up first, untangling himself from me. He stood up, automatically offering me his hand.

I accepted his hand, getting pulled up with ease.

We walked hand-in-hand as Damien went over our agreement and design.

"So, if I do this for you two, I'm gonna get first mission choice then?" he double-checked.

"Yeah, we'll suggest you for every easy and-"

"Oh, I want _every_ mission possible. I'm aiming to become a lieutenant," he corrected me.

"Yeah, whatever, what else you want?"

"Hm... I'll get back to you about that."

"Only two things, remember? The mission choice and one other thing," Ethan reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Damien rolled his eyes. "This is the design you want?" He held up the sketch Ethan drew that we collectively agreed on.

It was both of our parents' planetary symbol interlacing. It would've looked messy if we chose different colours, but we decided on doing black for the lines. We wanted something to represent us, and our parents seemed like the perfect fit. Death and balance. Revenge and riches.

"Yep, any problems?" I questioned.

"Nope, just double-checking so when I'm halfway through, you guys don't start saying it's wrong." He rolled up the drawing and tucked it into his pocket.

"We could say it to just fuck with you," I pointed out.

"If you did I'll turn you both into pigs and feed you to the monsters."

I rolled my eyes.

We kept on walking until we arrived at the room we had set aside for the tattoo. There was painting stuff inside and some ambrosia just in case it took up too much of Damien's energy. Soon, Ethan and I rolled up our sleeves so Damien could paint on the base.

"Who's the least ticklish out of you two?" he questioned, setting up the paint and his brush.

"Him," I stated, pointing towards Ethan.

"Okay, I'll just need to paint it on one of you and I can just duplicate it."

Not long after, he got set to work. I watched as he drew the strokes. Down, across, across, across, circle, half-circle, cross, and then one last cross.

"Hold still," he ordered me as his hand started glowing.

He replicated Ethan's and put it on the opposite shoulder for me. Then, he started chanting in Ancient Greek, both symbols glowing before fading, looking completely dry.

I touched it experimentally. I pulled my hand back, it was clean. "It worked."

"You seem surprised." Damien started snacking on a square of ambrosia while Ethan grabbed a wet sponge and rubbed it against the marking.

He pulled back the wet sponge. The tattoo stayed.

"Thanks," I stated.

"Hey, just keep your end of the deal and I'm chill with it," he replied to us before waving us away.

Ethan and I walked out. Just as we were going to turn down a hall, he grabbed me by the waist and kissed me. I was so startled I pulled back.

"What was that for?" I questioned, "Well, I enjoyed it but still," I added more politely.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this. I love you." He kissed me on the forehead before we held hands. "Let's go on our date now."

** (A/N: I never wrote a kissing scene before so... hopefully that wasn't too bad? Right? Also, I'll add a link to the image in my bio if you're unable to see the image for the tattoo. I couldn't find an actual picture of it so I just drew it quickly on my tablet that's cut off on the side. I didn't put this in the beginning because it might spoil somethings. Anyway, thanks for reading and supporting my story!)**


	22. The fight begins

** (A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you're all staying inside during these troubling times. Remember to wash your hands and keep up with healthy practices! Enjoy this new chapter!)**

I walked around Harlem Meer, making mental notes of the surrounding area as Morpheus strolled in front of me.

It was early-June when Alabaster assigned me the task of going to New York with Morpheus to scout out the battlefield. It was somewhat risky but Silena confirmed no demigods were on missions around that area so it should've been relatively safe.

Walking near Morpheus was difficult, which is expected considering he was the god of dreams and made any passing mortal fall down and sleep. I was already pretty tired from shadow travelling to Manhattan, just being near him made it hard for me to keep my eyes open.

"Can you lay off the magic, a bit? I'm gonna pass out if you don't, Lord Morpheus."

He stopped and turned to me, staring at me right in the eye. I fought the urge to curl up on the ground and sleep, knowing all too well that I might not even wakeup.

"I could, and I am, maybe you're weaker than your boyfriend claimed." He continued walking, making a couple of joggers fall along the way.

I finally found out when Ethan's birthday was, which was about two weeks ago. Thankfully, I found out a couple of weeks before so I could have time to get him a gift.

I didn't know what to get him, but then it dawned on me. I saw him always fighting with a plain, Celestial Bronze sword, so I thought, why not get him a new weapon? He got me one for Christmas. Then, I got him this special dagger's coated in poison. Once the poison hits your bloodstream, you have barely enough time to heal yourself before you... well, _die_.

Pretty wicked gift, am I right?

As well, he got promoted from soldier to lieutenant due to the fact he redeemed himself after the failed Christmas mission. Now, he has a room all to himself instead of sharing with the boys. Naturally, I moved in with him. I talked to some of the higher-ups and they permitted it, long as there wasn't any 'funny business' in the room, we would be fine.

Morpheus looked at the buildings in the surrounding area, making mental notes on how high the spell should be.

"What about planes? Would the planes crash? And if people were driving-" I began.

"Stop worrying, it'll be fine. The engines would be shut off as well and Hecate will deal with the matter of planes and people entering the city." He stopped, putting his hand on the forehead of a fallen jogger.

I looked around, checking if we were being watched when I saw a flash of brown in the woods. At first, I thought it was some sort of animal, but the way it moved and sounded, I knew better.

"Walk to the grove, we're being followed," I whispered to him before we continued walking.

I made mental notes as well on where everything should be laid out once we invaded Manhattan. Every building, every source of water, all of it. If we're gonna be facing Percy, we need to remove any source of water in the near vicinity to prevent him from using it.

We soon arrived at the base of a large elm tree when someone spoke behind us, their voice all too familiar.

"What are you doing?" Grover questioned.

I froze, trying to conceal my face so he wouldn't recognize me.

_Dammit, why is _he_ here? Shouldn't he be at camp making wreath laurels or whatever?_ I tried melting my body into the shadows as much as possible, but fortunately enough, he focussed on Morpheus.

"Having a look around. You _always_ scout a battlefield before a battle," Morpheus answered cryptically.

"Well, this um forest is under my protection! There won't be any battles here!" Grover declared in an attempt to sound brave.

Morpheus laughed, which unsettled me. "You're lucky I'm saving my powers for the big show. I'll grant you a short nap." He waved his hand, Grover's eyes shutting before he fell face-first into the roots of the tree.

I stared at my old friend, my stomach knotting as I had conflicting feelings over this.

_Grover allegiance lies with the gods, he deserves this_, one part of me argued.

_But he was our friend, _another part of me stated.

_It's not like he's dead, just sleeping_, that part reassured me, making me calm down a bit.

"C'mon, you should return to the fortress. We can't risk any demigods or satyrs recognizing you despite the fact..." he trailed off, staring at me.

"Fine..." I replied before shadow travelling back to my room.

* * *

I stumbled towards my bed, leaping out of a shadow and nearly running into Ethan, who was changing his shirt.

"Rina!" he exclaimed, catching me before I fell, "Aren't you supposed to be in New York?"

"Y-yeah... I was..." I answered as my eyes drooped.

He helped me onto the bed, handing me a piece of ambrosia before sitting down beside me. He wrapped his arm around me as I bit into the ambrosia.

Instantly, I felt better. As well, I realized Ethan was shirtless and basically hugging me, making my face heat up.

"Um... you want a shirt?"

He smirked, kissing me on the neck. "Hm... I'm not going anywhere so..."

"W-what time is it?" I yawned, resting my head on his shoulder before he could kiss me anymore.

"Eight," he kissed me on my forehead.

"C'mon, I'm tired, let me sleep," I complained, pushing him away with a smile.

"Yeah, but I was stuck with Nathan complaining about his unit being stuck here guarding the base," he argued as I fell back.

I stared up at the ceiling, yawning again.

He yawned, lying down beside me and sliding his arm underneath my head. "How was New York?"

"Boring... I ran into one of my old friends though."

He raised his eyebrow, glancing at me. "Did they recognize you?"

"I don't think so, or maybe they didn't see me."

"Makes sense."

Now I raised my eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you do look a lot different than you did a year ago," he pointed out, twirling a strand of my hair.

"Yeah, I have a scar on my leg, but that's all."

"Your hair, duh."

I sat upright, confused. "What about my hair?" It came out harsher than I intended, but it got the point across.

He sat up too, looking equally confused. "Well, it's not red anymore."

"It's auburn, and what do you mean about that?"

"Well, I guess you haven't seen a mirror in a while right?"

I crossed my arms, offended by the statement. Is he seriously insulting how I look? I can't seriously be _that_ ugly, right?

Quickly, he added, "You look hot, okay? But you're hair is a different colour now, you might not have noticed because there aren't any mirrors here."

Wait, haven't I've seen a mirror? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I see my reflection in the water or windows all the time. I never really looked that long before though...

"Okay, I have a picture of you when we first started dating." He stood up and walked towards his bag on the table, rifling through it.

I had to turn away as a blush crossed my face from staring at his exposed back.

Gods, why does he have to be so hot?

"Right here." He handed me the photo strip with us on one of our first dates.

It was four different photos, the first one of him kissing my neck, the second was just us smiling, the third was us kissing each other, and the last one was of us making out.

"Notice anything special?"

"Um, I got a hair cut?" It was true, that was the day I got my hair cut so it just touched my shoulders. It hadn't grown out though, it might be a while until my hair reaches my back.

"Okay, this is a picture of us on my birthday." He handed me another photo, and that's when I noticed the difference _immediately_.

In the new photo we were just were standing in front of a birch tree, his arm around my shoulder. However, that wasn't what I noticed. The thing was, my hair was darker, almost brown basically. The older photo my hair was still a bright auburn, but in this one, it was extremely dark.

"What the Hades..." I was left speechless. How did my hair _change_ colour? I didn't dye it, that's for sure.

"I don't know, Hecate mentioned it might be a possible side effect when we um... restored your memories." He seemed oddly nervous when he said this before laying back down on the bed.

"She did?" I didn't recall so.

"Let's get some sleep." He gently tugged my arm, pulling me back.

I laid down on his arm, contemplating what he said.

Why was he dodging the subject? Maybe she told him in private, but still. Why wasn't it brought up to me? Why is he always nervous whenever I mentioned my memories being changed? Actually, I don't think he even _says_ the words 'altered' or 'changed' whenever we mentioned my memories.

Eh, probably nothing, I'm just overanalyzing.

"Only a couple weeks until the big fight, huh?" I asked, turning so we were face-to-face.

"Yep, I'll be on Princess Andromeda, and you'll be summoning skeletons here," he replied, bopping my nose.

I giggled, kissing him. "I'll be in New York after you, don't worry."

"I don't like the idea of you shadow travelling there after summoning tons of skeletons."

"I'll rest a bit before going, don't worry. I'll be in New Jersey with you in no time."

An expression crossed his face, one I recognized as fear.

"Hey, Medusa's dead, don't worry about her," I reassured him. I knew he got scared when we decided we were camp at Medusa's old lair, but I didn't know why.

"Yeah... it's stupid I'm scared though..."

"I think it's kinda cute, also kinda ironic considering you only have one eye." I pecked him on the cheek as my eyelids started to droop.

"You should get some sleep," he whispered into my ear, pulling me closer to his body.

I wanted to protest, but it was getting harder for me to keep my eyes open every passing second.

"I love you," he said, his words muffled as he spoke into my hair.

"I love you too..."

* * *

"I need a hundred of them," Alabaster told me through an Iris Message.

The ships holding the monsters, demigods, and anyone else fighting for our cause had already left several days ago. However, several of them remained at Mount Othrys to protect it just in case there was a siege there, but I doubt it.

Who would go there? The demigods were already stretched thin enough, having less than a hundred campers in all.

"Okay, I'll summon them here, then divide them up. Half of them will remain here while the other half will be sent there." I nodded my head.

Alabaster wanted me to summon a hundred skeletons for the fortress, and then another hundred for the battle against the campers.

"They'll be able to cross the country?"

"Yes, I'll order them to get to New Jersey by nightfall on the fifteenth," I replied.

Why couldn't I just summon them there? Wouldn't that be insanely easier?

"Alright, we-" He was caught off by yelling.

"What was that?"

He grumbled something under his breath which sounded kinda like 'Jackson'. Then, he waved his through the message, leaving me confused and worried.

What did that Barnacle Boy do now?

"Arina."

I turned, going into a bow immediately at the sight of Koios, one of the Titans remaining at the fortress. "Yes?"

"It's time."

I nodded my head, following him outside to a large empty patch of land.

"Go ahead, we don't have all day."

I pulled my sword out of its sheath, taking a deep breath before digging it into the ground, chanting Ancient Greek while doing so. A second later, the ground cracked opened, skeletal arms emerging out of it.

"That's enough."

I nodded, pulling my blade out of the ground, closing the fissure and creating a long streak in the ground.

"Order them to arrive at 'Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium', those _exact_ words," he ordered.

I complied. "Warriors of bones, I order you to go to Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium in New Jersey before nightfall on the fifteenth of August of this year!" I bellowed, "And you hundred!" I pointed to the warriors clad in twentieth-century armour. "Remain here and defend Mount Othrys against any who seek to destroy it! Protect Lord Kronos' throne until you've been shattered into a million pieces!"

The soldiers split off, half of them going up the mountain towards the fortress, the other half going downhill.

"That's enough, you may go rest before going to New Jersey as well, we won't you need here anymore."

I nodded, again, and rushed up the hill.

I felt exhausted from summoning that many skeleton warriors, I could practically collapse. As well, I heard some very faint buzzing in my ears, but that was probably due to exhaustion as well.

Once in my room, I did collapse.

I woke up to yelling and sword clashing. I sat upright in my bed, stuffing some ambrosia into my mouth before grabbing my bag and suiting up in armour.

I did a quick survey of the room, seeing it practically bare except for a table and the bed. _Guess I'm not coming back to this, _I thought before dashing out the door.

I saw this guy with blond hair and blue eyes, similar to Luke, but way less attractive. He was dressed in armour, but it didn't look Greek.

He caught sight of me, his eyes narrowing. "A servant to Saturn!" he spat.

"Who the Hades is Saturn?" I questioned before shadow travelling behind him and knocking him to the ground, "I only serve Kronos so I could cripple the Olympians," I spat.

"Octavian!"

I turned, seeing more soldiers arrive. I chose then to shadow travel away.

I wasn't alone in the shadows, I know that for sure. I felt my body brush against fur, and for a split second, I thought I saw Mrs. O'Leary, Percy's pet hellhound.

A second later, I stumbled into Medusa's lair, which was being inhabited by several giants and Lord Kronos himself.

"Morales," he greeted coldly.

"Lord Kronos." I dropped to one knee, bowing.

"Rise, we don't need you now. However, you should help tend to the injured friends of yours," he advised.

"What, my lord?"

Once outside, I saw Ethan and several demigods around a makeshift infirmary, all getting bandaged or something along those lines. Same went for some human mercenaries, but I didn't really pay attention to those guys. They're just creepy.

"Ethan, what the Hades happened?" I exclaimed, marching up to him while sheathing my sword, which I brought out when fighting the blond dude.

"Rina?" He was eating some ambrosia as I sat down beside him. "You're old friends blew up Andromeda."

I clenched my fist, taking a deep breath. "Jackson, huh?"

"And a kid of Hephaestus, Charleson?"

"Charles Beckendorf," I corrected.

"Well, he's dead now."

I froze, unable to process what he just said. Beckendorf was... _dead_? Ohmygods... why did he have to be a hero? The Andromeda was just a ploy- oh gods, _Silena_, how is she gonna handle this news?

"At-at least you're okay," I managed to say, leaning against him as a wave of regret and fatigue hit me.

"Here, drink this." He offered me a cup of nectar.

"It's fine, you can have it."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine."

I begrudgingly accept the small cup, downing it in a second.

"C'mon, I've already have a tent for us, let's go rest in there." He walked me along the rows of tents as I was lost in thought.

_I heard buzzing in my ears, but I thought it was from being tired, why didn't I realize Beckendorf died? And the worst part was his death was unnecessary. Why did he try to be a hero? Gods... it was probably Percy's fault, why couldn't he help him escape? I'll kill that boy_\- I stopped my train of thought immediately.

When did I start wanting Percy to _die_? Yeah, he's helping the gods, but he doesn't know any better. Maybe I'm just being overly harsh? Yeah, I'm just overthinking it. Percy _was_ my friend before I switched sides, he probably doesn't even-

"Hey, earth to Rina? You okay?" Ethan inquired.

I realized we arrived at our tent, which just had two cots and a table in it. It was reasonably sized, all things considered, that is.

"Yeah... I guess..."

"Hey," he said, cupping my face in his hands, "it's not your fault he's dead, you couldn't have predicted this."

"Yeah... but I could've warned Silena that it was a ploy, maybe then her-"

"You wouldn't have been able to predict that he stayed on the ship, so stop blaming yourself." He pulled me into a kiss, making my worries melt away in an instant.

We started making out, falling onto one of the cots, making it creak under our combined weight.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, breaking away from the kiss.

"Yeah, kissing you is always great," he replied, grinning before pulling me back down to kiss him.

"I meant by the exploding ship." I pulled away, brushing a couple of strands of away from his forehead. "Some of the others look pretty beat up."

"Thanks to Alabaster, he managed to save a lot of our soldiers."

"What about the rest of them?" I gulped, fearing and knowing the answer.

His eyes softened, pulling me closer to his chest so I was lying against it. "It's not your fault they're dead."

"But it was pointless, so many dead just for a diversion..."

"Hey, it's fine." He brought my chin up to look at him. "We all knew the risk of joining this army."

I sighed, knowing he was right. Gods, I hate it when he's right because he's so godsdamn hot when he is.

"And I'm fine, just a small headache but I was close to Alabaster when it blew," he reassured me.

I yawned, feeling my tiredness finally sinking in.

"You should get some rest, the battles gonna start soon."

* * *

Morpheus and Hecate launched the first 'assault' on New York after Silena informed us the Ares cabin wouldn't be fighting. The first attack was naturally making all the mortals in New York fall asleep, and Kronos was receiving help from Hecate to slow down time in the surrounding area.

"What's the plan? Who's going where?" I asked Silena after she was debriefed on the strategy.

She had a pained look on her face. She kept on blaming herself for Beckendorf's death, despite the fact it wasn't. I've been trying to convince her otherwise, but I decided to go back to the battle plan to distract her, or mostly myself.

"Apollo cabin is at Williamsburg, Demeter's gonna be at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Hermes is heading for Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, my cabin's going to Queens-Midtown Tunnel, H-Hephaestus at the Holland Tunnel, 59th Street is being covered by Athena, and Lincoln's being watched by the Hunters."

I swore under my breath. Somehow, they managed to figure out where the Sherman tanks were going. "Fine, I'll inform Alabaster."

"Wait, Arina," she said, stopping me from waving the Iris Message away.

"What?" The moment I said it, it sounded harsher than I intended.

She looked upset still but she continued. "Can you please minimize the damage? Make sure not that many demigods are killed?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "I can't guarantee anything, you know that. The monsters and mercenaries have the mind of their own, I can't control all of them-"

"But can you try? I don't want to l-lose anyone else," she pleaded, looking close to tears again.

"Fine... I'll try, but I'm not swearing it on anything. If they get in the way, I-I have to accept they're g-gonna die." It was hard for me to say those words, especially since so many of the campers were once my friends.

"Wait! I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Hestia said... she said Percy has the curse of Achilles."

I deadpanned. This was going to a problem. "Okay, fine, I'll inform them. Knowing him, he probably chose something stupid like his armpit or tongue."

"Okay, well, be safe, I got to go."

"Same goes for you." I waved my hand through the Mist before entering the strategy tent with the others.

"What did you find out?" Clement questioned, examining a map.

"Move the Shermans, the Hunters are covering that area. Aim for the weaker spots." I hastily wrote down what Silena told me on the map, at each entrance I wrote the cabin guarding it.

"What about the boats?" Kaila asked.

"Percy's gonna deal with that, I presume. A land strike is the best option, but send a couple of monsters and mercenaries to test it, we never know."

The others nodded, making adjustments to the plan.

"Also, Silena informed me of some... unfortunate news," I added.

"What? We're gonna smoke them, they only have forty campers," Zeke stated.

"Well, apparent Percy has the curse of Achilles now."

The tent went silent. Everyone glanced at each other before looking at Alabaster for further information. However, even _he_ looked shocked.

"I-I'll inform Lord Kronos immediately." He rushed out of the room.

I looked at the new plan with a grin. "Those demigods are gonna wish they chose our side."

In a matter of minutes, everyone was clad in armour before being divided up by Ethan and Alabaster. Then, we were sent on different routes to get to Manhattan, by boat, by teleporting, and by car ride.

I was sent to Williamsburg Bridge with Ethan, enjoying the car ride and a quick make-out session in the back of the van.

"When's the next time we can kiss like this?" I inquired.

"Hopefully soon, this battle will be over in two days, tops," he replied, running his hands up my shirt.

Soon, we arrived at the bridge, just as the Apollo kids did.

"You wanna lead them?" Ethan asked me, his obscuring his face except for his eye.

"Well, you wanted the Minotaur, but you got me." I slipped on my helmet, which was made of Stygian Iron as well.

All of my armour was Stygian Iron, actually. Breastplates, greaves, all of it.

"Try avoiding using your blades, they might recognize them," he advised as we stared off at the campers.

"I'll try."

Then the fight began. Monsters raged forward as demigods shot arrows at them from the suspension cables, but some managed to get through the onslaught of attack.

"I'll deal with the archers," I told Ethan before I shadow travelled onto the suspension cables.

I found one quickly, shoving him off and stealing his bow. I heard a splash when he fell off the bridge, easing my guilt of nearly killing someone. I then used his bow, firing at a couple of demigods who were using explosive arrows.

"Up there!"

They caught sight of me, trying to shoot at me. I easily jumped onto one of the cables and swung down, ordering several skeletons forwards and hellhounds.

Everything was a blur after that, just a flurry of swords and claws. I might've gone temporarily deaf from the constant screaming and clashing of blades, but it turns out, it didn't last long.

I looked up, my eyes narrowing when I saw the two pegasi, one of them being black. I knew who were the two lovebirds up there immediately.

"The prophesied idiot decided to show up," I spat, firing a couple of more arrows. Naturally, because I couldn't shoot, I missed them all. The good thing was that they were exploding arrows, so it knocked a lot of campers back.

Ethan ordered everyone to push forward, and we did.

"Duck!" I screamed as an arrow flew towards us, one I remembered emitted a loud noise,

Unfortunately, some monsters weren't lucky enough and exploded the moment it went by them.

"Get the soldier in black! I think he's their leader," a person said gesturing to me from behind the wall of cars.

How did I hear that? I have no clue, but I was ready for a fight.

Percy ordered everyone to push forward before appearing behind a school bus and staring me down. If he recognized me, he didn't show it, he just headed towards me.

"Who are you?" he yelled.

I didn't reply, glaring at him as I felt anger bubble up inside me. _Why is he _still_ defending the gods after all they did to us? Oh, I can't believe he's dense enough to trust them and their lies! He's gonna get himself killed!_

Once he was close enough, I made the first strike, but he blocked it with Riptide. We kept on swinging at each other as I tried to figure out where his Achilles' heel was.

"Why are you serving Kronos? Are you a demigod, or some minor god in disguise?" he questioned as I feinted a strike to his neck.

If I talked, he'll know it's me, that's for sure. He may be stupid, but he knows people.

"Not talking, huh? Did you trade your tongue or something like Ethan?"

I swung at his side, but the blade easily bounced off, making me angrier. I was frustrated I couldn't find his weak spot, making me more reckless by the second.

I overextended at one point, he ended up tripping me and knocking away my sword.

"Guess you-" Before he could complete his sentence, I summoned some shadows around us and fired it at him, closing it around his neck.

I saw Annabeth's eyes go wide from the sidelines when this happened before she tackled me, making me lose my control over the shadow.

She pinned me to the ground, looking at me. Then, she ripped my helmet off just as I kicked her off, knocking her into Percy.

"Let. Me. Fucking. Go." I hissed, glaring at her.

Percy seemed bewildered and shocked. "But-but, you're dead, how are you-"

"Well, you didn't think it was _that_ easy to kill me, did you?" I raised my eyebrow, swinging my siccae blades around my fingers.

"But why are you-"

"Enough chit-chat, just fight me already." I shadow travelled to them, trying to land a hit on Percy.

He kept on trying to talk to me as we fought. I, of course, ignored him. Reason one: I didn't need to explain myself to him. Reason two: I didn't hear half of what he was asking. The fighting was _really_ loud.

"I'm not gonna answer any of your questions, Jackson," I spat, summoning more shadows around us.

He looked hurt when I said this. "Arina, what happened? Why did you join the Titans? I thought you-"

"You want to know fucking why?" I exclaimed, "You're godsdamn father, all the Olympians for that matter, _KILLED_ my mom and brother!"

Now, he looked more confused than ever. "But I thought-"

"They altered my memories!" I yelled, pushing him farther back.

Just then, I saw Ethan and I sent a nod towards him. A second later, he tried swinging at Percy's exposed back, but something happened. Annabeth jumped in the way, getting stabbed in the shoulder by his poisoned knife.

Percy turned, shocked. He glared at my boyfriend, knocking him down with the butt of his blade.

A smile flickered onto my face when I saw this but quickly disappeared, which made Percy pale slightly before standing in front of Annabeth defensively.

"No one touches her!" he shouted.

I grabbed my boyfriend's unconscious body, scowling at my old friend. "This isn't over, I _will_ get my revenge. And you'll regret it, oh boy, you _will_." I shadow travelled further back, grabbing my sword, just as Kronos appeared, staring at Percy with a curious expression.

"Collapse the bridge," Alabaster ordered me once I handed Ethan off to some medics.

"What?"

"While Jackson's distract-" Before he could continue, Kronos and Percy started fighting.

Everyone stared, transfixed by them. Kronos swung his blade down, knocking even his men off the bridge while Percy flew a couple of hundred feet back.

Michael Yew yelled something to Percy, but before he could, I stepped in.

"Lord Kronos!" I warned.

He glanced back at me, hopefully realizing what I was implying before I swung my sword down. An earthquake erupted across the bridge just as Percy did something similar on his side of the bridge.

The bridge started collapsing as everyone fell back, running towards land. Some of our soldiers fell into the river as I felt of surge of death around me.

I tried shutting it out as I slipped into a car with a medic that was tending to Ethan in it. "How is he?"

"He's fine, but you better head back out there unless you want Lord Kronos to kill you," they replied.

"It's almost sunrise, we have to withdraw."

The car started up as a couple more demigods slipped into the car. Then, we rode off to our camp in New Jersey.

"We'll rest here until sunrise, then we'll continue forward!" Alabaster informed us demigods and mercenaries before heading off with me to the strategy tent.

Once inside, I realized Prometheus was there. "Master Prometheus." I bowed my head.

"Hm... we'll need you as well," he said cryptically.

"Um, for what, master?" I felt exposed and tired then, and my worry about Ethan was growing by the second.

The last I saw of him was that he was being carried towards our tent, but then I was rushed to hear the announcement by Alabaster.

"We're going under a flag of truce and I require Nakamura and your assistance."

"And what are we supposed to accomplish? Not like Jackson's gonna give up, he's too arrogant too."

"Well, we're gonna give him something, special." He placed a jar on the table.

It was a jar with intricate designs over it, looking well over a hundred years old.

"Pandora's pithos."

"What? Like Pandora's Box?"

He sighed. "Well, it was a pithos, I don't know where this box nonsense came from though."

"Okay, whatever, so you want me to go with you?"

"Yes," he answered.

I nodded my head before Alabaster dismissed me.

I ran back towards my tent, running into multiple demigods and mercenaries along the way. Once in my tent, I found Ethan starting to wake up.

"Ugh... my head," he groaned, trying to push himself up.

"Hey, you should get some rest." I gently pushed him back down before grabbing some nectar from my bag.

He blinked a couple of times, his eyes taking a second before focussing on me. "Rina? W-what happened?"

I sat on the edge of the bed, handing him the nectar. I watched him drink some of it before answering. "We were fighting on the bridge. You were trying to stab Jackson, but for some reason, Annabeth jumped in front of him. He got mad and knocked you unconscious." I gestured towards his dented helmet, which was discarded on the ground.

He nodded, gingerly touched his nose before wincing.

"At least you're awake now." I smiled, trying to stifle a laugh when I realized how squashed his nose was.

It looked like a tomato.

"What's so funny?" He handed me back the flask of the godly drink.

"Your nose." I giggled before lying next to him.

It was a small bed, but at night we pushed the two cots together. We separated them in the morning so we would have more room.

He cracked a smile, kissing my forehead. "You're adorable, as usual."

I rolled my eyes. "How's your head?"

"I had a headache until I drank the nectar. I feel a little sore, but otherwise, I'm good." He wrapped an arm around my body as I snuggled closer to him. "You should get some sleep too... You did amazing out there."

"I'm fine."

"Sure, I'm tired anyway." He yawned, making me yawn in return.


	23. Second thoughts? Yes Maybe No

**(A/N: On my bio, I'll include a link to my Instagram, which is where I'm gonna post my Dollify version of Arina, but it was kinda hard to make with the limited options there are out there. I'm also refraining from explaining any sexual (or possibly sexual) moments due to the fact I'm worried it might be too inappropriate and this story might be taken down because of it. If you want a more detailed version, I'll try to keep that more on Wattpad. Enjoy this new chapter and stay healthy!)**

The next day, I was sent out for the truce thing. Ugh, I rather just stay in bed with Ethan though but I guess I shouldn't defy a Titan to be honest.

"I don't get why I need to wear armour, isn't this a diplomatic mission?" I asked Ethan as we walked to a park with Prometheus, an empousa, and a Hyperborean giant, who was holding a flag of truce.

"I think you look hot in it." He shrugged with a grin.

"Shut up." I punched him in the shoulder before readjusting his new helmet.

"Make me."

"Children, please refrain from kissing each other while on this mission," Prometheus advised, the empousa's arm laced in his.

They were both dressed nicely for some reason, the Titan wearing a suit and the monster wearing a dress. It almost looked like a normal couple if you ignored the flaming hair and fangs on the monster.

"Yes, m'lord." We both bowed our heads before looking ahead to see Grover, who was awake, Thalia, and Percy.

I saw mixed expressions cross their face when I caught their stare, but I kept my face neutral. I didn't want to show any regret or give them anything to use against me.

"How much do you think they hate me?" I questioned.

"Eh, not sure, the hunter looks pretty angry. Jackson and the satyr seem sorta neutral," he guessed, "but since when did you care?"

I slipped my hand into his. "I don't."

Then, we came up to the others. Prometheus exchanged some words and introductions while Thalia glared at me, which I responded with a smirk.

"Hey Ethan, you're looking good," Percy remarked, eyeing his squashed nose.

"He looks better than you, Jackson," I bit back, slipping my hand out of Ethan's, crossing my arms, and glaring at him.

I was still mad at him for giving my boyfriend a concussion and a squashed nose, which is pretty petty but I don't care. There's also the fact he's serving the Olympians and protecting their home too.

"Thought you were smart, Morales, but guess you make stupid choices," Thalia said, still glaring at me.

"Pfft, I'm the stupid one? Says you, you're serving some stupid 'virginity' goddess." I laughed and saw her arm move towards her bow.

"Heroes, please, let's be civilized." Prometheus waved us towards a picnic table.

It was pretty squished on our side, so I promptly chose to sit on Ethan's lap, which caused my old friends to give me an odd look.

Prometheus began telling Percy they're odds at winning, trying to persuade him to surrender and let Olympus fall.

Well, I guess it would be nice for him to surrender and let Typhoon destroy the Olympians, but I kinda want to get even with them. I can't kill a god... right? Maybe destroying their thrones will play a part, or maybe killing their loved ones-

Wait, what am I thinking? I promised Silena I wouldn't hurt any more demigods and most of the demigods have been brainwashed by Chiron and their parents to trust the gods. It's not their fault they've been tricked.

"You've met the offsprings of the Titans, they aren't all bad, like Calypso," Prometheus offered.

Percy turned red. "T-that's different."

"Is it though? What about Zoë?" I suggested instead.

He shot a glare at me, which surprised me because it was so unlike him. "She died trying to help Artemis. Also, you haven't answered my question yet about switching sides."

I rolled my eyes. "I _did_ tell you, remember?" I slammed my hands down on the table. "You're worthless parents, _all_ the Olympians, killed my brother and mom," I hissed.

I assume I must've accidentally summoned something judging from the scared look I got from Grover and the way the other two went to grab their weapons.

"How can you be sure the Titans aren't brainwashing you about that? You said your brother went _missing_-" Percy began before I interrupted him.

"Well, that was Hera and Athena messing with my memory you idiot. How else do you think they'll make me comply with the sick ruling of the gods?" I exclaimed.

"The Olympians never cared about us, they never gave us any respect. Rina and I have spent years in the Hermes cabin while we watched others get claimed," my boyfriend added.

"My father was sent to live and rule the Underworld, he was kicked off the council because the others knew he was more powerful and superior them. My father, my siblings, we don't get the respect we need." I scowled at them, feeling myself lose control over my powers for a brief second.

"Well-"

"Well, what? Haven't you wondered why there aren't any cabins to the minor gods and my dad? Don't you wonder why it _has_ to be about the Olympians? What's the camp called? Camp _Half-Blood_, not 'Camp Olympian'. What makes it right that you guys get recognition while the rest of us don't? Why should we suffer, trapped in the Hermes cabin, while you all get the luxury of your own cabins? Why do the unclaimed have to be forced to sleep on the ground in sleeping bags while you reside in bunks?" I questioned, clenching my fist until my knuckles turned white.

"I saved your life countless times, this is how you repay me? By destroying Olympus and fighting us?" Percy inquired, dodging my question because he knew I was right.

"Pfft, I've saved you're sorry ass more times than I can fucking count." I rolled my eyes, leaning back into Ethan.

"Who saved you from drowning during our first Capture the Flag night? Who blew up the mountain to get you and Annabeth to safety? Who held up the sky so Artemis could help you fight? Who-"

I summoned my blades, ready to stab him when Prometheus raised his hand, signalling me to stop.

"Now, now, this is a diplomatic mission."

I turned my blades back to normal, glowering at Percy still.

Prometheus said something before reaching out to touch Percy's forehead. A second later, the latter fell back, sweating and significantly paler. Possibly angrier judging from the warning Grover gave him.

Soon after, the pithos was offered. Naturally, the others thought it was supposed to be a box. After a few parting words, we departed. Thalia cast me a glare while I flipped her off, resulting in Grover having to restrain her as a walked off.

"I hope you get an STI from your boyfriend there!" she yelled as we strolled up through the lane of Central Park.

"Hope you're sent dangling off a cliff! Maybe a punishment like that exists in the Underworld!" I called back, keeping my middle finger up at her while my back was turned.

Oh gods, that comeback _sucked_.

* * *

Once we got back, Ethan and I were sent to see Kronos. The reason? I have no clue.

"My lord." We both bowed before Kronos.

"Well, what did you two think about the diplomatic mission."

I was about to respond, but Ethan beat me to it, but his answer was relatively weak and possibly angered Kronos.

Well, all things considered, he was scared of Medusa's lair, which I found kinda endearing and cute.

Kronos was mocking Ethan's fear of Medusa while I stayed silent. I knew I should have spoken up, but Ethan would kill me if I got hurt trying to stand up for him.

"Now tell me what happened at the Williamsburg Bridge. Both of you," he demanded.

A confused expression crossed Ethan's face as realization dawned on me.

"The girl jumped in front of Jackson because she knew where his weak spot was. Judging from the angle and his armour, it's most likely the small of his back," I deduced.

A grin spread across the Titan lord's face when I said this. However, it disappeared in an instant, being replaced by a wince.

Shortly after Ethan was threatened by saying Luke was fighting Kronos' control, we were dismissed back to our tent.

"That was stupid," I commented, crossing my arms as we walked side by side.

"The confrontation from Kronos?"

"No, your _response_. You literally just told him he's weak, whatcha expect to happen?"

"Wow, thanks for the support." He rolled his eyes- wait, I mean _eye_.

Gods, why do I keep forgetting to say eye instead of eyes?

Before I could continue, I felt a spike of pain in the back of my head, causing me to stumble forward. I nearly fell if it weren't for Ethan.

"Rina? Are you okay?" he asked, worry creasing his brow.

The headache left as soon as it arrived, leaving me feeling sort of sleepy. "Yeah... I'm fine..." I murmured.

Ethan hoisted my arm over his shoulder before helping me walk back to our tent and laying me down on one of the cots. He then grabbed a piece of ambrosia and gave it to me.

"I'm fine..." I pushed him away, but he managed to get it in my mouth before I could.

I swallowed it, feeling more alert and a bit warm. _Need to lay off the godly food unless I want to burst into flames,_ I reminded myself before pushing myself into a sitting position.

"What happened? And don't say you're fine, again." He sat down beside me, slipping his hand into mine.

I rested my head on his shoulder. "I'm... not sure. One moment, I was fine- uh, I mean I was good. Then, I had a headache." I paused, massaging the back of my head. "Weren't these 'posed to stop last summer or whatever? Like the last one I had was in September when we started dating."

He rubbed the back of his neck, which he did whenever he was trying to think of something. "They should've stopped unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Well, you told them the Olympians altered your memory, right?"

I nodded.

"What if they have some sort of god on Olympus trying to realter your memory? They're trying to get into it right now and it's giving you headaches?"

I took a deep breath to compose myself. "What?"

"It's just an idea, don't get to worked up about it." He put his arm around me instead of holding my hand, kissing me on the forehead as well.

I sighed. "Yeah, but still. Why can't I just live my life, get revenge, and not be bothered by the gods? Is that too much to ask?"

"Well, considering we're demigods and our lives are fucked up from the start, yes."

I rolled my eyes. "What an uplifting response, Ethan. I have never been more inspired and reassured in my whole life. Your statement has _truly_ changed my view of the world."

"Pfft, don't need to be _that_ sarcastic." He laughed before laying back on the cots.

I laid down beside him, kissing him on the neck. "They're releasing the sow tomorrow?"

"Yep, we're hoping Jackson will be distracted by it so we can push further. He _is_ their best fighter."

"Ha, as if, it's just because he's invulnerable and a kid of the Big Three. If I took a dip in the Styx, I'll probably become just as powerful, maybe more."

"Well, you'll be too out of my league then, not like you aren't now though."

I laughed, nuzzling closer to him as he kissed the area around my ear and started winding down to my collarbone.

The next couple of minutes passed by in a blur until Ethan and I were making out in our underwear.

"Where are we fighting anyway?" I whispered as he straddled me.

He kissed me again before pulling away. "Not sure, but we're gonna try to sneak towards the Empire State Building while Hyperion distracts them." He placed a hickey on my neck, making me gasp out in surprise.

"Can we just make out instead?"

"Ha, I wish, but then the rest of the army might kill us." He got off of me and laid down beside me, sliding his arm behind my back and pulling my hip closer to him.

"True, you're a lieutenant, I'm head strategist, they need us." I shrugged before he tickled me right below my rib cage, making me laugh and kick out at him.

"Gods, you're really ticklish," he remarked, nuzzling his nose into my neck, making me giggle.

"Yeah, of course, I'm like practically naked."

"What if you were completely naked?"

I shook my head, sighing. "I rather not have sex when I'm only fifteen. Teen pregnancies aren't a laughing matter."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't say we'll have sex, I just said I wanted to see you naked."

"I'm not gonna do anything while I'm naked and under sixteen."

"Ugh fine." He rested his head against my shoulder.

"You're such a horny seventeen-year-old," I remarked before resting my head on his.

"Whatcha expect? I'm a sexually deprived, teenage demigod."

"With the life we live, I think we're all sexually deprived," I stated, "except for any guys who get it with Calypso on her island. That's different."

He burst out laughing. "You think-"

"She's cursed to fall in love with everyone who comes to the island and can't stay." I shrugged in response while he continued to laugh.

"Well- how- do you- know that-" he managed to say in between gasps of air as he struggled to compose himself.

I turned to my side, staring at him and tilting my head. "I've never heard you laugh this hard, ever."

"Well, the way you said it," he elaborated after he calmed down, "do you think your friend did?"

Percy told me, so naturally, I told my boyfriend.

"Hm, don't think so, he has a crush on Annie."

"Well, you never know."

"As if, he was like what, fourteen? Going on fifteen. No way would he be that stupid," I pointed out.

"Well-"

"Okay, enough about him, let's just go back to making out."

He smirked. "Sure."

* * *

We were currently fighting through a jungle that the Demeter cabin had created, which was very stupid considering how many shadows were everywhere and me being there. I just shadow travelled to where they were and fought them.

I dodged and slashed at the vines the camper was summoning to block me from coming forward.

"Stalling me's not gonna help you." I shadow travelled behind them, clocking them on the head with the hilt of my sword before turning and fighting another demigod.

We continued fighting, managing to push back all their forces until the campers, all of them, were barely twenty feet away from Mount Olympus.

I felt so much death surge around me, making me lightheaded but I continued forward, trying to not think about my dying friends.

"Give up, Jackson! We outnumber you ten to a hundred!" I yelled over the fray as Percy and I clashed swords.

"You know me better than that!" he retorted, feinting a strike which I anticipated.

I swung my blade up, trying to figure out how to hit his weak spot.

"Find our spy yet?" I inquired, trying to distract him.

Silena went off the grid yesterday, I tried contacting her and caught a fuzzy image of her flying back to camp, which was utterly stupid considering there were wind spirits knocking everyone out of the sky.

Silena's my only friend I had left from the camp that I still kept in touch with, I don't know what I'll do if she got hurt. She helped me A LOT when I started dating Ethan, like I was practically clueless to his hints, well, except for the really obvious ones.

I'm not as dense as Percy, don't worry.

His expression changed to a serious one. "You know who it is? You knew who killed Beckendorf?"

I took a deep breath, narrowly missing his neck with my sword. "I-it was an accident, we didn't even want anyone to die, that was _your_ fault. How could you let Beckendorf die? How could you move on like that?" I exclaimed, letting my anger push away my remorse for hurting my friends.

I could tell I hit a nerve judging from his expression, but he didn't lash out at me.

"I didn't want to. The mon-monsters got ahold of him, h-he told me to jump I just-"

Before he could continue, there was a horn sound. Unfortunately for us, that meant reinforcements. Suddenly, hundreds of centaurs appeared, firing weird stuff at us like boxing gloves and pinwheels, which were attached to arrows.

Compared to Chiron, these centaurs looked like college students that always partied. Afros, spraypaint, tie-dye shirts, you name it. It actually _hurt_ my eyes looking at them, to be honest.

One thing I don't get? Why did we retreat? Once the centaurs started fighting back against us, our army began to flee. It made no sense though, we could've easily swamped them and sent them back to- wait do centaurs even go to the Underworld? Or do they get sent to Tartarus? Maybe they get reincarnated into a plant?

"Stop! Fools! Don't-" before Kronos could finish yelling, a Hyperborean giant landed on top of him.

I summoned several more skeletons before falling back, letting them deal with the campers while we retreated.

"Gods, I hate this," I spat as I ran alongside another demigod from our army.

"Did you see them though? They had-"

"Paint guns and arrows with punching gloves, yes, that's a completely serious threat," I replied to the demigod sarcastically.

"Well, not all of us have powers, y'know," they remarked, their face hidden by the helmet so I couldn't tell who they were.

"Then _get_ some instead of complaining." I shadow travelled to our new camp, running into Ethan, who was talking to Alabaster.

They both were wearing armour, but Ethan seemed nervous about something and was fidgeting with it.

"What?" I asked them, my tone harsher than intended.

Our camp how moved to the United Nations complex, which Kronos hated because 'nations can never unite' or something along those lines. Either way, we were closer to Olympus than ever, soo we'll destroy the thrones and kill the Olympians.

I'll finally get my revenge.

"We think Lord Kronos is going to release the drakon once he returns," Alabaster answered.

I narrowed my eyes, realization dawning on me as I took off my helmet. "How the Hades did you two get here so quickly anyway?" I gestured towards the steadily growing number of monsters, demigods, and mercenaries returning from the fight. "You guys can't teleport or-"

"Actually, I can, remember? Teleported you to the fortress after I stabbed you," Alabaster pointed out.

I rubbed my thigh, which now had a scar because of the injury. I didn't have a limp anymore, but if I bang my thigh against the corner of a table, it will hurt. "Yes," I said through clenched teeth, "I have something to remind me of it."

Ethan moved behind me, bending down to whisper something into my ear. "You should calm down unless you want to get turned into a pig or something," he warned, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Let's see what Lord Kronos says about the release of the drakon." I crossed my arms and leaning against my boyfriend.

Turns out, Kronos _did_ want that. He almost sliced Ethan and Prometheus in anger before he ordered it though.

"Morales!"

I stood at attention when Kronos yelled my name.

"You shall release the drakon, order it to kill all of those puny centaurs and campers!" he yelled, slicing a pole with the Canadian flag down.

"At sunset?" I replied, a little uneasy as he swung the scythe around.

I wasn't near him, but I won't be surprised if he could still hit me considering he is a Titan and Lord of Time.

"No, now while they're at ease, they won't expect it!" he bellowed as I bowed my head and shadow travelled to the building where we were keeping the drakon.

I haven't been to New York much besides the times I've spent at camp, so I didn't know what the building was called, but it was big. The drakon just _barely_ fit inside the whole place, knocking down many walls. Fortunately enough, there weren't any mortals sleeping inside so none were hurt.

"Hey there," I greeted, opening the door before jumping back as it stuck its head out.

It was like a dragon, but without the legs, so a giant, terrifying, worm. Indestructible scales, corrosive venom, and a petrifying stare that can paralyze almost anyone. Not, 'oh no, I've been turned to stone', like 'oh Styx this is a big one, the Fates hate me' kind. Fortunately enough, due to the fact my father was Hades, I had control over the monster so it couldn't paralyze me.

_Food?_ it inquired, looking at me expectantly.

I brought out my sword, despite the fact it wouldn't do any harm to the monster considering it's prophesied to be killed by a child of Ares. Glad I still have my armour on though.

"No, I am not food. Gods, what's with drakons thinking I'm food?" I grumbled the last part to my self before carefully motioning for it to follow me.

_You smell like food, and death_, it remarked, following me out and unwinding itself. It had bound up its whole body in a giant heap in the building.

"Yes, I've been over this, I'm the daughter of Hades." I walked backwards, not taking my eyes off the beast.

_I'm hungry, where's the food?_

"You get to eat all the-" I took a gulp, trying not to think of any of my friends dying, just trying to imagine my enemies instead. "S-some-"

My moral conscience kicked in then, trying to convince me to not free this drakon.

_They're our friends_, one part of me argued.

_They're defending Olympus_, the vengeful side of me fought back.

"Rina?"

I turned, seeing Ethan keeping a safe distance with a shield in hand. He was fully clad in armour now, his dagger in hand.

"H-hey," I responded shakily as I stared back at the drakon.

I heard the shield drop and arms being wrapped around me. I rested my head on his chest, trying to refocus my thoughts.

"If your friends know what's good for them, they'll give up and ask for amnesty," he reassured me, whispering it into my ear that sent chills down my spine.

I felt heat rise up into my face as I nodded, not wanting to speak back as my gut twisted at the thought of killing my friends.

I'm fine with _hurting_ them, but killing? I'm not so sure about that, they're just being used by the Olympians, they don't know any better.

"C'mon, let's go attack Olympus." I marched the drakon towards Manhattan before setting it loose to wreak havoc on the city.

As we entered the city, which was pretty damaged from the fight, the drakon let out a ferocious roar, shaking the ground. For a split second, I thought it was loud enough to wake the mortals from their slumber, but it didn't.

As I followed behind the monster, I observed the wreckage and felt a twinge of guilt and regret. I saw maybe one or two bodies of campers, cars thrown to the side and blood painting the windows, and blown up sides of buildings. It made me almost second guess my choice to join the Titan army, but it was too late to turn back now, I'm in and I have blood on my hands.

I felt someone squeeze my hand, making me look over to Ethan.

"It's not your fault so stop-"

"But it is," I retorted as I focussed on the back of the drakon to avoid seeing any more dead bodies.

"Did you tell those demigods to stand in the way of Kronos? Did you tell those mortals to-"

"I suggested it though, I suggested we put Manhattan under a spell-"

He tugged my hand, stopping me as the rest of the demigods, monsters, and mercenaries surged forward around us. "Remember why we're doing this. Remember how they k-killed your mom and brother. These guys are supporting them, they're the enemies too." His voice cracked when he mentioned my mortal family, making me feel a brief throb of pain in the back of my head.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself and agreeing with him.

These demigods _chose_ to side with the Olympians despite all the neglect they give towards their children. They chose entities who wouldn't lose sleep over their deaths, they chose the _losing_ side of this war.

I clenched my fist, pushing away my sympathy and replacing it with something more useful. Anger, revenge, and a burning passion to see destroy the Olympians. "Let's teach those Olympians a lesson.

As we neared the Empire building, I had to stifle a laugh at seeing the other's pathetic army. They had what, twenty demigods? A bunch of centaurs too, but they all looked drunk and ready to fight one another instead.

"I'LL TAKE ON THE DRAKON!" Percy yelled heroically, making me smirk.

The drakon scaled a building while we all surged forward, swords clashing and acid being spat everywhere.

I decided to stick to the shadows, trying to find any way to sneak up to Olympus. I needed to get up there so I could help shadow travel Kronos up there to destroy it. This wasn't the original plan, but I thought of it while we neared the place.

I heard screaming, causing me to turn back and see Percy stab the monster in the eye with his sword, rolling onto the ground as Mrs. O'Leary tried distracting it. The monster spat acid in pain, dusting some centaurs and our own monsters.

Hmm, guess centaurs _do_ end up in Tartarus.

I weaved in and out of alleys, fighting and dodging any demigod I encounter along the way.

_Yes, almost ther-_ before I continue my line of thought, I heard rumbling.

I whipped my head around a paled, seeing thirty warriors clad in armour drive towards the monster army a top of chariots with a boar banner.

"Ares," I spat, glaring at the all too familiar armour of Clarisse.

_She nearly killed me three years ago..._ I growled, summoning more skeletons to combat her despite how much it drained me.

Skeleton warriors raced towards the chariots, managing to knock down two as the rest continued on. Six went straight for the drakon, Clarisse leading them, while the rest went towards the monster army.

"Ares to me!" Clarisse's voice seemed weird, higher than I recalled. No way was she scared of the drakon, was she?

I readjusted my spot, moving into an alley where I could get a clear view of the fight without being spotted. I heard rustling behind me, but with the turn of my head, I saw a rat scurry out from behind a large dumpster.

The six Ares campers went down to four as two of them froze in fear, crashing into a couple of cars pushed to the side. The remaining ones fought valiantly, but it didn't last long, they were losing.

I tried firing balls of shadows at unsuspecting demigods, knocking them into alleys and away from monsters. My goal was just to incapacitate them, not kill them.

I risked a glance at Clarisse, who now I got a better view of, looked different. She was thinner and taller than I remember. Her armour fit loosely around her like Ethan's used to, and she seemed scared.

Then I saw her eyes. They were blue.

Clarisse didn't have blue eyes, but I know one girl that did who fit the other description.

"SILENA!" I screamed just as she jumped onto the drakon.

"ARES!" she yelled, not hearing my warning.

The drakon regarded her, spitting acid in her face and knocking her back to the ground before attacking the rest of the army. A small group of demigods circled around her body as another chariot arrived with the _real_ Clarisse.

I watched this all unfold in stunned horror as I heard a buzzing in my ear. I stumbled back, trying to figure out _why_ she would do this.

Clarisse grabbed her spear, and without armour, charged straight at the drakon. She jumped, stabbing it in its remaining eye so hard it shattered the spear, sending electricity throughout the drakon.

My eyes went back to the small circle around Silena as I slowly moved closer to overhear what was happening.

Silena opened her palm, revealing the scythe charm that symbolized you were in Kronos' army, like the one I tied around the hilt of my Stygian iron sword.

"You were the spy," Percy stated, a look of shock evident on his face as he stood over her body.

"It was before... before I liked Charlie. Luke was so charming... he promised me... I would be saving lives. When I wanted to leave... he threatened Charlie. He said he'll keep him safe if I agreed... he lied..."

I slumped against the wall, tears forming in my eyes as I felt the life drain out of my friend. Any second now, and she'll be gone.

How could I let this happen?

"I wanted to keep Arina safe too... he said he would kill her if I stopped after Charlie died... forgive me..."

A look of confusion crossed Clarisse's face, but with a quick glance at the skeleton warriors fighting, she understood. She clenched her jaw, her anger fueled at me likely. "You're not dying."

"See... Charlie..."

I felt the life flicker out of her, her soul flying towards the Underworld as the group disperse. I covered my mouth, trying to silence my cries.

I barely registered what happened next. One moment I was leaning against the wall, next, I'm on the ground as my vision blurred and the back of my head ached.

"Sorry 'bout this..."

I see two blurry figures above me before everything went black.


	24. Reality or an illusion?

** (A/N: Enjoy and stay safe! Warning: they'll be some violent descriptions later on, but I'll try not get too into detail because I hate gore and I honestly can't write it. Sorry if this chapter is kinda bad, I rushed it because I wanted to get it out to you guys as soon as possible. I've procrastinated too much on this chapter and sorry it's late.)**

My head was pounding when I started waking up. I felt someone, or many multiple people carrying me.

_Ugh... what happened?_ Brief flashes appeared in my mind, making me vaguely recall watching Silena die and getting knocked unconscious.

_Who.._. realization dawned upon me, snapping me out of my daze and making me kick out at whoever was holding me.

I opened my eyes, flipping my body upwards and doing a roundhouse kick at whoever was holding my legs.

I looked around me, seeing Connor, Travis, and Jake Mason surrounding me with uneasy looks. I appeared to be in the lobby of the Empire State building, no one else was around, but I could tell people were going to trickle in soon.

"Why the hell did you kidnap me?" I spat, reaching for my sword but discovering it was gone.

"Well, Percy said-"

"You guys are idiots and completely naive!" I exclaimed, summoning my blades instead and brandishing them.

All three boys had armour on but their helmets were discarded. They all had swords too, but they were all still sheathed at their waists. As well, they all had cuts and bruises as well, probably due to the fact they were injured beforehand, which makes it easier for me to take them down.

"Pfft, says you, you're the one trusting the Titans," Connor remarked.

"Well, it's better than trusting the Olympians!" I countered.

I tried using my powers to get out of there, but for some reason, I couldn't. However, with a quick glance around the room, I noticed there weren't any shadows anywhere, which should be scientifically impossible.

"Quick fix courtesy of the Apollo cabin," Jake supplied, guessing what I was thinking.

I heard the door open, Percy, Chris, Annabeth, and Thalia appeared. One glance at me being surrounded by the three boys answered their question.

"How'd you manage to catch her?" Percy questioned as the rest of them circled me, destroying my chance of overpowering them.

Before he could answer, I attacked, spinning my blades around and connecting it to swords and daggers. Unfortunately, someone managed to knock it out of my hands so I resorted to fist fighting instead.

"Just- let- us- help you!" Annabeth yelled as I swiped her legs out from under her and backflipped into Chris.

"Yes, knocking me unconscious is just _spectacular_! I should be bowing and saying thanks!" I replied sarcastically, dodging a punch from Percy and jumping on top of Travis.

"Hey!" he exclaimed as I used my momentum and flipped him to the ground.

"Ugh, let me show you girls how's it done!"

I turned my head and saw Clarisse stomp in, grabbing on to my waist. I swung my elbow up, hitting her int he throat but she held on while the others grabbed a limb or body part of mine. Soon, all of my adversaries had managed to restrain a random body part of mine, holding me above the ground while walking towards the elevator.

It slowly dawned on me what they were going to do. They were going to change my memories.

"Let me go!" I screamed, trying to thrash around.

"Hold still!" Jake yelled as I kicked Connor in the collarbone.

"This is pointless! Just let the Titans take over!" I stated.

"I get that you're brainwashed and all-" Travis began.

"I'm not brainwashed!" I groaned in frustration, still trying to wiggle free.

"That's what a brainwashed person would say," Connor pointed out.

"That's what a soon-to-be-concussed person would say," I retorted.

"What?" A look of confusion crossed his face before being replaced with mild fear.

"Let me go and find out."

It continued on like this as we arrived at Olympus. They seemed to be carrying me to a certain spot and judging from all the buildings we passed, I assumed it was the throne room.

The closer we got to the throne room, the more impulsive and desperate I got. I felt the fear grow in my chest like when I first heard their plan about altering my memories. Now that I know the truth, are they gonna erase it all? Wipe my mind completely clean so I'll be compliant? Maybe they'll just alter the past year and the memories of my family's death.

They carried me onto a table, or maybe a bed, but it was hard to tell because it was like lying on a pile of rocks.

"Let her go now," a gentle, young voice said.

"But-" the other protested.

"It is fine, I can deal with her. You all can leave, but I recommend for Percy and Annabeth to stay for this to work."

I felt them loosen their grasps on me, but before I could attack, I felt a wave of calmness hit me. My body became less tense as a warm feeling entered my chest. Somehow, it felt like home with the warmth and calm. A feeling you get after a long day and you return home to your loved ones. It reminded me of nights sleeping with Ethan after a long day of work, cuddling up to his warm chest and breathing his scent in.

"Now, I'm sorry if this is going to hurt." An eight-year-old-looking good appeared above me before touching my forehead.

Everything went black.

* * *

I was lying on the ground when I came to. I looked around, puzzled by my surroundings. Everything _looked_ familiar, but I couldn't place where until I saw the door up ahead.

My old apartment.

"No, no, _no_," I whispered as I felt my body pull me towards door number 67.

I had no control as my arm reached out and pushed the door open, revealing my mom and brother cowering in the centre of our living room surrounded by the Olympians.

I willed my body to move forward and stop them from hurting my family, but my feet were glued to the ground, my mouth sealed shut.

"Please!" my mom cried out as she held Dennis, my brother, close. Her auburn hair was all messed up and her face was stained with tears.

My brother was shaking and crying into my mom's shoulder, mumbling stuff that I couldn't quite catch.

My heart broke at the sight of them seconds before their deaths. How could the Olympians do this? My family had nothing to do with me being a half-blood, well, mainly my brother didn't have anything to do with it, but _still._

How fucking heartless are they? I guess a lot, considering Zeus killed Nico's mom and Hermes abandoning Luke with his insane mother, and I learned all this from Kronos.

"There's no mercy for you or your son. You have sired a child with my brother, breaking the oath," Zeus declared.

The rest of the Olympians started saying something, but it all fuzzed out for some reason when I felt a headache hit me, making me crumble to the hardwood floors.

The headache faded just as Zeus ordered the strike to kill my family. Lightning, arrows, spears, and fire struck them all at once. Then, vines and a tree sprouted out right below, skewering them. Lastly, I saw Poseidon somehow control their blood, making it burst from their veins and cover the white walls of our old apartment.

However, instead of Athena and Hera turning and wiping my memory, everything disappeared into a white light and I reappeared several feet from the door once more.

"What the Hades..." I uttered, confused as my body pulled me towards the door again.

Everything repeated, the death of my family, the blood, it all felt like torture for me to watch it again. Then, it repeated itself a third time, fourth, fifth, and every time, I got closer and closer into the room until I was glued to the couch, watching them die right in front of me.

"Arina! Help us!" my mom screamed, looking at me with a wild look in her eyes.

I wanted to reach out, summon skeletons, but I was frozen, all I could do was watch in horror as it happened for possibly the hundredth time.

However, instead of restarting the memory again after it was over, the gods disappeared in a flash of light, leaving me alone in the room with my family's corpses.

I could move again, and I surged forward, collapsing at the foot of the tree that stabbed them both. I had no clue how long I sat there, tears streaming down my face as I broke down.

I couldn't stop the gods. I couldn't save my family. I can't do anything right.

"Arina..."

I curled up into a ball, trembling head-to-toe from the tears. My eyes were probably all red from the crying too as I began to dry sob.

"Arina!"

Someone grabbed me from behind and turned me around. To my surprise, it was Percy and Annabeth. They had looks of shock on their face and Annabeth seemed to be on the verge of tears as well.

"This _isn't_ real, okay?" Percy kneeled down in front of me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "This is fake, okay? Kronos got some god to mess with your memories, this _never_ happened."

I brush him off, still shaking. "N-no, you're l-l-lying."

"Arina, it's obvious this is fake." Annabeth sat down beside me, giving me a look of pity mixed with worry.

"H-how can you be sure?"

Annabeth gestured around her, pointing at a picture frame on the side before glancing at the corpses. "None of this makes sense, think about it."

My sadness quickly changed to anger at her accusation. "What do you mean? My family's death doesn't seem _real_ enough to you?" I spat, glaring at her and Percy while backing away.

"No, it's plenty real," Percy stated, looking around uneasily.

"I meant, doesn't it seem odd that some stuff in here looks... off? Like it doesn't make sense?"

I paused, looking around the room and slowly noticing what she meant. The blood on the walls looked odd by the way they were splattered, now that I think about it. All of it was on the walls, but none of it touched the floor except for a small puddle around the bodies.

"And you can't hear what some of them say, don't you?" Annabeth guessed, making me feel uncomfortable.

"W-whatcha mean?"

"Well, when Zeus and the other gods were about to... were about to order the kill, you didn't hear anything did you?"

"It was a long time ago, of course it would be fuzzy," I stated.

"Then why is everything else crystal-clear?"

I was about to argue when I felt a spike of pain in my head as the room started to change. The walls and ceiling morphed into a clear blue sky, the floorboards turned into soft, warm sand, and all the furniture shaped into items you would find at the beach. Soon, my whole living room transformed into a bustling beachfront, kids running around and teens making out.

"Arina?" Percy grabbed me just before I fell, my legs feeling weak.

When the room changed, so did our positions. We were all sitting together, but now we were standing underneath a palm tree.

I held my head as the scenery blurred in and out of focus, remaining cloudy after my headache subsided. "Ugh... where... where are we?" I murmured drowsily.

"Um... is it just me, or is everything blurry except for us?" Percy asked, sliding one of my arms over his shoulder while Annabeth took the other.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed, "I was right, this isn't normal at all. I guess whoever altered your memories didn't finish the job because it seems like there's a lot of holes and mistakes."

"How can..." I trailed off, seeing a familiar-looking blur chase another one around an ice cream cart.

Two girls, one with blonde, curly hair, and the other with straight, auburn hair. They were laughing and giggling as my vision sharpened, unblurring them but keeping everything else the same.

The two girls seemed to be the same age, the blonde wearing a grey swimsuit while the other wore an indigo one. They both had matching, oversized, floppy hats on, running into people because their vision was probably obscured.

"Is that- is that _us_?" Annabeth exclaimed in shock, staring at the two young girls.

I stared at them, but I couldn't remember when this happened. I recognized our younger selves, but I had no clue when we went to the beach together, like, ever.

Then something dawned on me. I had no clue where I was. Am I in my memories? Am I in my own mind? I was so confused.

"W-where are we, actually? In my memories?" I guessed.

I felt both of them tense up, so I assume my guess wasn't too far off.

"What the Hades are you guys doing in my memory?" I snapped, pushing them both away from me, turning around and looking at them.

"We're trying to help you," Annabeth stated defensively.

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "Why are you here though?"

"Uh... that depends on what you remember last," Percy said.

I grabbed my head as brief flashes appeared in my mind. I saw myself being grabbed by several demigods, fighting against them, getting carried to Olympus, and then an eight-year-old girl doing something to me.

"You guys kidnapped me, dragged me against my will to Olympus, and somehow invaded my memories? How the fuck is that _helping_?" I exclaimed, stepping further away from them, reaching down to grab my sword but realizing my weapons weren't with me.

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. "Arina, listen to me. Kronos, or whoever, altered your memories. We're trying to help you, Hestia told us we needed to go inside your head and-"

"And why should I believe you? Or Hestia? How do I know this isn't some sort of trick to get me back on your side? You could be lying to me right now," I spat.

"You're really trusting Kronos' word over ours?" Percy inquired, "Didn't one of his soldiers _stabbed_ you? Didn't he order them to _kidnap_ you too?"

He had a point, and I hated that. Gods, when did this Barnacle Boy get brain cells?

"Yeah, but what have the Olympians ever done for me? If my brother wasn't killed, what happened to him? They hate my dad, so subsequently me. Hephaestus automaton _killed_ Bianca, Zeus murdered Nico and Bianca's mom, Hermes abandoned Luke-"

"What about the Titans? Atlas killed Zoë-" Annabeth began before I interrupted her.

"Yeah, o-one thing," I said as I felt a tinge of regret for brushing aside my friend's death so easily.

"Okay, what about Beckendorf? Silena? Michael Yew? Lee Fletcher?" Percy questioned in a rapid-fire session like Rachel did when we first met her.

My heart sank as I bit my bottom lip. I didn't have a comeback for that.

I finally gave in to their reasonings, but with a grain of salt. "I'll see what you mean by them altering my memories. But, you have to do A LOT of convincing." It felt odd not trusting my friends, but I knew it was the right choice. I can't blindly throw my trust around, it only gets me hurt anyway.

"Fine," Annabeth agreed.

Percy looked around the blurry beach, confusion still on his face. "Why _are_ we here? Hestia said we'll be going to the memories that would help Arina figure out the Titans tricked her."

I gazed around, eyeing the two girls running around. "Maybe something with those two." I shrugged. "But I don't remember this day at all..."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed before widening. She gasped, covering her mouth. "I t-think I remember this day! It was a couple of weeks before I ran away..."

I stood there, trying to remember the day but it came out as blurry as the beach. "Annie, that was like, nine years ago, how the Hades am I supposed to remember this?"

"Well, it must be important," Percy insisted, "maybe we can follow the mini-yous and we'll find out?"

I shrugged again in response before following the two girls, Percy and Annabeth trailing behind me.

As we walked some figures' appearance started to sharpen, the fuzziness disappearing. I didn't recognize anybody at first sight, but I saw somethings that were familiar.

"Wait... is _that_ Mr. Chase?" Percy asked, looking at a man that vaguely looked like Annabeth's dad, but younger, of course.

We stood there, watching the exchange between Annabeth's and my past selves with Mr. Chase and another woman beside him, which I think was Annabeth's step-mom.

"Can't we play a little longer?" Annabeth inquired, looking up to him.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but we need to go home now." Mr. Chase squatted down to his daughter's height.

Annabeth's younger self looked scared then, glancing around. "B-b-but what about the spiders?"

"There are no spiders," Annabeth's step-mom insisted.

Annabeth's younger self glared at her step-mom before looking to my past self.

My past self was looking around for someone, but I couldn't tell who. She kept on biting her lower lip nervously, fidgeting around.

"Where's your mom?" Mini-beth (yeah I'm gonna call her past self now) questioned.

"I don't know..." Mini-me replied, digging her foot into the ground and twisting it around.

Mr. Chase stood up, glancing around for my mom. "Huh, I could have sworn I saw her with Dennis a minute ago."

Mrs. Chase shook her head, putting her hand on Mr. Chase's shoulder. "I think I know where she went, I'll go get her." With that, Mrs. Chase turned and headed towards the women's washroom.

"Wait... I know what happens..." Annabeth stared at me, uncomfortable.

"What happens?" I asked.

Just then, the whole scene shifted. It didn't _change_, but a weird glimmer covered everything. As well, Mini-me was sitting and braiding some woman's hair. After watching them, I realized it was my mom.

My mom looked like the previous memory, well, not dead, of course. Her auburn hair was in waves, half of it resting on her shoulder while the other half was in a crudely made braid being done by Mini-me. She had a white, blue-striped, summer dress on and twisting a golden bracelet on one wrist, something she did often.

"T-that's your mom?" Percy gasped.

"What? Please don't tell me you find her hot," I groaned, shaking my head.

"What, no! I meant, well, you told me she didn't care about you at all or something," he defended himself.

I stared at Mini-me and my mom, savouring the moment. Everything about it seemed perfect, the way the wind blew, how we laughed, the crashing of the waves, it was-

"There's-there's something wrong about this," I realized, stepping back from the memory, shaking my head.

It felt like I was in a trance staring at my past self, it was hard to look away. It felt like a siren calling me, making me want to look at it forever, hypnotizing me.

"Yeah... where's your brother? If this is the same day, which I suspect, your brother should be here," Annabeth stated.

"Yeah... where is he..." I trailed off before turning around and seeing the whole beach was empty.

"Uh, yeah, there's something _definitely_ wrong," Percy remarked.

Before we could investigate further, the whole place changed in a flash of white light.

It took me a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust to the new lightning, which was my living room again, but the calendar on the wall said it was 1998, five years before my family's death.

There was a little girl sitting on the couch, drawing something in a colouring book. She looked like me, younger, with shorter auburn hair than the previous memory. She was wearing a blue sweater with a yellow duck on the front and light brown shorts.

"Arina? Honey? I'm home!"

Minier-me whipped her head around, grinning a toothy grin before vaulting over the couch and running up to my younger mom. "Mommy!"

"How are you sweetheart?" she inquired, bending down and kissing me on the forehead, her face obscured by her hair.

When she stood up, I could see the evident baby bump. Judging from the size, she was at least seven-nine months pregnant with Dennis.

I stared at her as she talked to my younger self, soaking in every word she said. It's been _so_ long since I heard her voice... a calm voice, not one screaming for mercy. It reminded me of how life was before they were killed, when I was a toddler and my mom chased me around our old apartment.

Someone grabbed me, _again_, and turned me around. I stood face to face with Annabeth and Percy, who both looked concerned and worried.

"Arina, snap out of it, this isn't real, this memory's putting some sort of trance on you," Annabeth said.

"W-what? You've been saying that for a while now and I only saw _one_ thing weird so far! Anyway, how could this memory be altered or fake? In my altered memories, she was addicted to drugs _after_ Dennis was born, and this was before!" I exclaimed, trying to turn around and see my mom but Percy stopped me.

"Arina, when's Dennis' birthday?" he asked me.

"What?"

"When was he born," Annabeth rephrased.

I gave them a puzzled look. "I thought you knew, Annie."

"Yeah, just want to confirm though."

Before Annabeth ran away, I invited her to my brother's birthday. A couple of years back when I lived at camp, she asked me about how I felt now that my brother was gone on his birthday.

"July 7th," I responded, brushing Percy's hand off of me.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, turning towards the calendar mounted on the wall. "Well, if that's true, your mom is four months late."

"What?" I looked at the calendar and saw the month was October. "No... that's-"

"Whoever altered your memories did a lousy job in my opinion," Percy commented.

I stumbled away from them, clutching my head as I felt another headache, but it was worse. It vaguely reminded me of one headache I had a while back that felt like someone had split my head open with a battle axe.

I was on the ground next, staring up at the ceiling as stars appeared in my vision. Then, Percy and Annabeth were above me, both of them swaying in my sight.

"Annabeth, what's happening?"

"I-I'm not sure... maybe her body's trying to reject the idea that her memories..." Annabeth's voice trailed off as my vision darkened.

* * *

I sat up, gasping for air. I looked around me and saw Percy and Annabeth have a similar reaction as me while an eight-year-old sat patiently by the fire, observing us.

"What..." I looked around, confused.

"Did it work?" Percy asked, turning to the girl.

I rubbed my throbbing head as I sat on a- table? Couch? Love seat? Whatever, I was lying on something that made my back sore.

My headache wasn't as bad as it was in my memories, but it was still bothering me. It was like a dull throb resonating throughout my body, weakening my senses. It was harder for me to focus on anything, which was already difficult considering I'm ADHD.

"Well, Arina?"

I winced when Annabeth said my name, the noise somehow causing me discomfort. "Y-yeah..."

"Uh, so, you remember that your family wasn't killed?" Percy inquired uncomfortably, probably not knowing how to word it.

Well, of course asking someone and trying to phrase it would be hard.

"Um..."

A brief glimpse of my memory appeared in my head.

It was six years ago, I had returned home from school. The front door of my apartment was opened a bit, and I could smell the tinge of weed in the air. I stepped into my apartment, covering my face and seeing my mom half passed out on the couch with a burned-out cigarette in hand.

I remember asking where my brother was after calling out for him, and that's when my mom told me he left for the park at 1 pm. It was four when I got home, and I rushed to the park and found it deserted before calling the police.

They questioned me, asking where I've been. I told them I was at school and arrived home to my mom on the couch. They questioned her next, asking her about who would take my brother. She answered everything quite easily, but they didn't believe her. Well, who would? Her eyes were bloodshot and she could barely get two words out without slurring them.

I snapped out of my memory, looking at the others as I felt a chill up my spine. "How do I know this isn't a trick? What if that was a fake memory?"

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. "I wanted to do this first, but Lady Hestia thought it would be wiser for you to uncover on your own, no offence, Lady Hestia."

"It is fine, Annabeth, knowing how stubborn my brother is, it seems the apple has not fallen far from the tree," the eight-year-old said.

"W-wait, _you're_ Hestia?" I exclaimed.

"Yes." The girl- no, _goddess_ nodded.

I decided to let this thought slide considering gods could change into any form they pleased.

"What's your other plan then?" I turned to Annabeth, twitching my fingers nervously.

"Come with me." She stood up and walked outside of the room.

I looked around the room and saw we were in the throne room on Olympus, all the thrones empty while the Ophiotaurus swam in a giant water bubble.

"C'mon." Percy offered me a hand and I accepted it as he easily pulled me off the table.

I let go of his hand instantly after I got up, walking out of the door with him beside me.

"So uh... sorry about kidnapping you?" he apologized awkwardly.

"You need a new nickname, like, King of Awkwardness," I remarked, feeling on edge still.

We arrived in a garden not too far from the throne room and found Annabeth waiting beside a fountain.

"Huh, I'm surprised you didn't make a run for it yet," she commented.

I shrugged. "I don't think I'll be able to fight you guys back anyway, I'm still a bit... iffy from that whole memories thing."

"Uh, Wise Girl, what's the plan?" Percy inquired, "We don't really have a lot of-"

"Yeah, I know." She handed me a coin and gestured towards the fountain. "Iris Message your mom."

I blinked at her. "What?"

"You heard me. If you think your mom's dead, Iris Messaging her wouldn't be a problem, right?"

I nodded shakily, tossing the drachma into the fountain's mist. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me... show me, K-Katinka Mor-Morales, Pittsfield, Massachusetts."

The mist shimmered, revealing a dark-haired woman swallowing two pills before puffing on a cigarette. It may have been years, but I recognized the matted, faded auburn hair and the dark circles under my mom's eyes.

"No... no... she's- she's dead." I swiped my hand through the image before stumbling back, running into someone.

"Kronos tricked you, your mom's alive."

Fragments of my- real? Altered? I'm not sure anymore... Memories flashed in my mind, revealing how I forged my mom's signature for every school-related trip, stealing her wallet and getting a job as a newspaper delivery girl to make money for my brother and I to eat and live, going to meet-the-teacher events for my brother, lying about my mother, everything. The memories made me dizzy, causing me to nearly collapse out of shock.

"She's alive..." I stated, my shock quickly turning into hatred.

The Titans manipulated me, told me the Olympians were my enemies. They tricked me into attacking my friends, letting me lead them all to their deaths. They forced me to believe a lie for the past year.

Then the worst part hit me: did Ethan know? Is that why he started dating me, to keep an eye on me? Was everything we had together fake?

My tattoo on my shoulder ached at the thought, making my gut twist.

"Are you- are you gonna be alright?" Annabeth asked, placing her hand gently against my shoulder.

"Y-yes..." I managed to say.

Before the others could question me further, Thalia ran into the garden.

Her bow was snapped and her quiver was emptied, but she cast me a glare filled with hate. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"She's on our side now..." Percy stated, glancing at me, "right?"

I steeled myself, channelling all my rage towards the Titans instead of my friends. "Yeah, and I ready to make Kronos regret doing this to me."

"Well, you might get your chance," Thalia began, "the enemies' advancing, and Kronos is leading them.

* * *

They eventually gave me back my armour and weapons, but the remaining campers were quite reluctant too, especially the ones I injured.

"It's good to have you back." Percy patted me on my back while I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, save the praises until _after_ we kill this Titan," I responded.

I guess we both spoke too soon because, by the time we got back down to the ground, hunters and demigods were lying wounded everywhere. Things were smoking everywhere and I could feel death hanging in the air. The centaurs were gone as well, either dusted or ran off.

The Titan army's vanguard ringed the building, and the person- no, _creature_ leading this was none other than the Titan Lord himself, the dracaena queen, two Hyperborean giants, and Ethan standing beside him.

I tensed when I saw my boyfriend. I felt betrayed by him, finally understanding why he was always so uncomfortable when he mentioned my memories. He knew, yet he kept on lying. How am I supposed to ever trust him again?

He looked distracted, his eyes going over the carnage before finally landing on me in my signature black armour. An expression crossed his face, but it was gone before I could decipher it. It could've been regret or maybe even anger, whatever it was, I didn't care at the moment.

There was a figure standing between the opposite army and the remaining few of ours; Chiron. He stood ready with an arrow notched, facing down his father.

Kronos spotted us, his golden eyes flaring when they landed on Percy and his expression turning into a cruel smirk when he saw me.

"Move aside, _son_," Kronos demanded to Chiron.

I tried moving, but I realized Kronos was using his powers against us, freezing us demigods and satyrs. All we could do was helplessly watch our camp director face down the most fearsome Titan of them all.

The dracaena struck first, but Chiron shot an arrow at her and she turned to dust. He went to reach for another arrow, but he was out. He resorted to fighting with his sword and began duelling Kronos.

"You said the gods cared about me!" Kronos declared while fighting Chiron.

"Me, you said me," Chiron noted.

While Kronos was distracted by that comment, Chiron feinted a perfectly aimed strike. However, Luke was quite skilled before being possessed by the Titan and easily anticipated the strike before blasting Chiron with energy, launching the centaur towards a building.

The building crumbled on top of him, the freezing spell breaking at that exact moment.

Annabeth surged forward, charging at the Titan with Percy running after her. She tried to stab him, but because of the Titan's invulnerability, the blade bounced off harmlessly. Well, the jolt seemed to dislocate her injured arm.

_The arm that I help injured..._ I realized, feeling stabbing guilt in my chest.

Kronos was about to swing down his scythe, and I saw Percy getting ready to block it when there was a howling noise. However, I could understand it.

I turned and saw an aisle open up where the army was. Standing on the end was Mrs. O'Leary and a familiar demigod in identical black armour as me.

"Nico?" I gasped under my breath.

Mrs. O'Leary barked, bounding towards Percy, completely ignoring the monsters surrounding her. Nico followed her, the enemy shrinking back as he radiated death that matched my own powers.

"Got your message, is it too late to join the party?" Nico asked Percy.

I looked at them, my hand resting on my own Stygian iron blade while staring at my brother's. At that moment, I could see the uncanny resemblance between us that went beyond the physical.

We both radiated death while in battle, naturally. There was also the fact we both had dark hair, at the current moment, and our armours were almost identical.

"Son of Hades, do you love death so much you wish to experience it?" Kronos exclaimed.

"Your death, yes," my brother responded with a smirk.

"I am a Titan! I cannot be killed, I escaped Tartarus! I turned your _own_ sister against Olympus!" Kronos bellowed.

A look of confusion crossed my brother's face before Percy motioned to me. Nico stared at me, blinking for a couple of seconds but keeping his gaze on me, making me feel insecure from his gaze. My brother then turned away as I felt a silent agreement pass between us.

At that moment, the ground started to crack open, skeleton warriors clawing their way out of the ground and emerging. The skeletons that were on Kronos' side crumbled to dust as well while the rest of the monsters started to look antsy.

"They're dead! They're no match for us!" Kronos yelled at his soldiers.

The soldier started to form a line at Nico's command, bordering an obsidian chariot that had arrived. On the chariot was none other than my father, Persephone, and Demeter.

My father was wearing his standard black armour and blood cloak, but the thing that stood out the most was his Helm of Darkness upon his head. I could feel it reaching out and striking fear into the hearts of all of Kronos' men. The only thing keeping the soldiers together was Kronos' power.

Kronos and my father exchanged a few words before Kronos swung his scythe down, forging a crack between us, the undead army, and the majority of the monster army.

"What is he..." I began.

"He's locking us in," Thalia spat, "collapsing the barrier around Manhattan and awakening the mortals."

Sure enough, civilians were starting to wake up, cars starting up around us. Whatever they saw through the Mist couldn't have been good because judging from the terrified looks on their faces.

"Nakamura, come with me, giants, deal with _them_," Kronos ordered before storming past us with Ethan trailing behind him.

I looked at the doors where Kronos and Ethan went, knowing full well what was going to happen next.

"Percy! Let's go! We need to stop them!" I yelled at him as he stared at my brother fight with- wait is that Ms. Jackson?

I shook the thought away before motioning towards Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and Grover to follow me up to Olympus.

The elevator ride was quicker than I thought when we finally all got up. Then, because the Fates just _love_ us, the bridge to Olympus began to crack, falling apart once we got up there.

"Guys, grab onto me, I'll shadow travel us to the other side," I suggested, holding out my arms for them to grab onto.

They all grabbed onto me, some more reluctant than others before I shadow travelled us to the opposite side. Once there, I almost slipped and fell backwards, but Thalia and Grover managed to grab my arms before I tipped over.

"Are you okay? I saw Nico use his powers-" Percy began.

"I'll be fine," I said, ignoring the stars in my vision, "let's go."

We all broke into a jog through the wreckage of the once beautiful city of the gods. I saw the remains of minor gods and nature spirits who tried to stop Kronos, sliced buildings and trees, fires and slash marks everywhere. Along the way there, a building exploded, the rumble flying into the air but fortunately not hitting us.

We were at a walkway when two statues, Hera and Zeus respectively, began to sway before tipping over, right where I was running. At the last second, Thalia pushed me away, the statue falling on her instead. I fell to the ground before looking back at her, relieved to see she was still alive after the dust settled.

"Why-"

"Just go!" she yelled before grumbling, "All these battles, and I get knocked down by a pile of rocks..."

We didn't want to leave her, but the echoing cry of Kronos told us otherwise. Another building exploded, closer to the throne room as I could tell.

"We'll be back," Percy promised.

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere," Thalia responded.

* * *

The throne room's doors were blasted right off their hinges, making it difficult for us to clamber over the shards of stone on the ground. Inside, Kronos was waving his scythe around, gazing at the thrones while Ethan stood at a far enough distance to not get hit.

I stepped into the torchlight with the others, Ethan spotting us and tensing when he locked eyes with me. I couldn't tell what his expression was, but it looked oddly like regret.

"M-m'lord," Ethan said shakily, still staring at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, angry that he knew about the Titans altering my memory but never bother to tell me.

"Ah... shall I destroy Jackson first?" Kronos inquired, turning around and sizing us up, "Morales would be proven useful later on."

My grip tightened on my sword, hating how he said the words 'useful'.

"I'm not just a mindless tool," I spat at him, my anger threatening to surge out of me.

His eyes flickered, something darker seemed to appear in his eyes for a fraction of a second before we all strung into action.

Kronos fought Percy and I while Ethan took Annabeth, Grover playing some music on his reed pipes behind us. For some reason, the Titan turned his scythe into Luke's Backbiter, but it made no difference.

The Titan backed us up to Hephaestus's throne. Percy and I locked eyes with each other before springing onto it and vaulting over the Titan just as the throne said 'Defense mode', shooting bolts of electricity at Kronos.

"Nice moves, Barnacle Boy," I remarked.

"Thanks," he replied with a quick grin.

For some reason, Annabeth ran forward towards Kronos. "Luke, listen!" she pleaded.

The Titan barely regarded her, flinging her to the side and hitting her mother's throne. She crumpled to the ground, unmoving but I could feel the life still pulsing through her body.

Now, Ethan was facing me, a look of hurt on his face as my back was against Percy, who was facing Kronos.

"Rina-"

"Shut up, you didn't care about me," I spat at him, "if you did, you would've told me the truth. You would've told me _they_ altered my memories."

He looked hurt by my words before glancing at Kronos behind us.

"Now Nakamura! You know Jackson's weak spot!"

Another pang of guilt hit me. I was the one who revealed the weak spot, exposing my friend. He could die because of me.

"Ethan, look around us, is this really what you want? Everything destroyed, the good and the bad?" Percy tried reasoning with my boyfriend.

"There's no throne to Nemesis, there's no throne to my mother," he muttered.

"Same with mine! But is this really how you create balance, Ethan? Would this _really_ solve all the problems? Kronos is going to tear this whole place down, and then there won't be anything left to balance," I stated.

He shifted on his feet, looking uneasy.

"If you ever love me," I started, my voice breaking, "you would believe me. You would trust me, and you'll know I'm right."

I let this sink in as Grover's music flowed through the air, reminding me of the nights Ethan and I would sneak up to the cliffs and stargaze. We would lay together for hours kissing and cuddling until the sun rose. Memories of us together appeared in my mind, making me oddly long for the days we were on the same side.

I could tell Ethan was remembering this as well, but his next action surprised me. "I'm sorry..." he whispered, looking at me with grief.

He then ran straight towards Kronos, swinging down the blade at his neck that should've killed him, but instead, the blade shattered. Pieces of it ricocheted off, and I saw a chunk of it impale itself into Ethan, breaking through the armour. He stumbled back, falling into the steadily growing grass.

"Treason," the Titan hissed.

Ethan looked at Percy and I. "Deserved better... if only they had thrones." He then stared at me, only me, and mouthed three words. 'I love you'.

Kronos slammed his scythe down, a giant crevice forming in the centre of the room. Ethan's body fell through, right down into the open air under the mountain.

The buzzing in my ears was unbearable, I collapsed to the ground, too shocked to even cry. I was vaguely aware of Kronos and Percy fighting while I stared at the hole in the floor, my mind reeling with memories I shared with Ethan.

I squeezed my fists and eyes shut, taking a shaky breath before standing up and glaring at Kronos, letting out all of my anger at once and advancing towards him. I swung my blade at him, catching him off guard as he fought Percy and I.

"It's too late now! Look!" Kronos pointed to the hearth, which shimmered and showed Nico and Ms. Jackson getting cornered by monsters as my father struggled to overpower the army. Then, the image shifted to Typhoon's fight against the Olympians.

They looked like they were losing but then, a conch sounded. Poseidon emerged from the Hudson River once Typhoon stepped into it, an army of sea creatures appearing and striking against the monster. Afterwards, the rest of the Olympians fought with new vigour, managing to overpower the monster and sending it to Tartarus via whirlpool.

"No! NO!" Kronos yelled, shock rippling across his face.

"They're on their way," I stated.

"It's over," Percy said.

Kronos swiped through the smoke before charging at us both recklessly. Grover jumped in front of us but was flung to the side like a doll.

I summoned shadows to hold him down, but I was still reeling from Ethan's death, the buzzing still in my head. It worked, I guess, holding Kronos down while Percy tried attacking.

Unfortunately, Luke knew most of his moves, actually teaching some of it to him, so naturally, Kronos was able to block most of his moves. He knocked Percy's blade into the fissure, leaving him weaponless as I struggled to maintain the grasp on the shadows.

"Luke!" Annabeth appeared.

Kronos turned his attention to, swinging his sword at her but she blocked it just in time with her dagger. She mustered enough strength to push back until she stood face-to-face against him.

"Luke, I understand now, you have to trust me," Annabeth said.

Kronos yelled, "Luke Castellan is dead. His body will be burned and I'll unlock my true form!"

Annabeth began pleading Kronos, talking about how Luke's mother knew this was his fate.

"This is my fate!" Kronos bellowed.

"No," Annabeth insisted, close to tears now, "that's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you were going to become."

"I will crush you!" he declared.

"You won't, you're holding him back right now," she responded.

"LIES!" he roared, making her lose her balance and slapping her to the ground.

The shadows disappeared just as I fell too. I felt weak and groggy from using my powers, adding on top of that I was still a bit fuzzy from the whole memory thing. Then to top that off was the fact the buzzing hadn't faded yet from E-Ethan's death.

All I could do was watch weakly from the sidelines.

Kronos raised his sword, ready to swing down and kill Annabeth.

"Family, Luke. You promised." Blood trickled out of the side of her mouth when she said this, eyes brimming with tears.

Kronos staggered, staring at the dagger in Annabeth's hand and the blood on her face. "_Promise_."

He gasped then, like someone emerging from the water. "Annabeth..." However, it was Luke's voice, not Kronos'. He wavered as if he was fighting for control of his body. "You're... bleeding."

"My knife." She dropped her dagger, it sliding towards Percy. "Percy, please..."

Percy snatched the dagger, kicking Backbiter into the hearth before getting in between Kronos/Luke and her. "Don't touch her."

Anger rippled across the Titan's face. "Jackson..." he hissed, his body starting to glow.

He gasped out again, Luke's voice coming out instead. "He's changing, help. He won't need me anymore- please-"

Kronos took control again, roaring in anger before looking for his sword. He went to grab it but dropped it as the blade turned bright red, heating up and burning his hand.

Hestia flickered in the hearth, frowning at her father in disapproval.

"Percy... please.." It was Luke again, collapsing and holding his hands.

Percy moved towards him with the dagger, looking poised to kill him.

"You can't do-do it. He'll regain control- he'll defend himself. I can only stop him- I know where." Luke was glowing more strongly now, getting closer to Kronos' true form.

Percy raised his blade, ready to strike, but then looked back at Annabeth, who Grover was holding in his arms. He glanced at me before realization flashed in his eyes.

"Please..." Luke begged, "no time..."

"Percy- you-you can't trust..." I trailed off as I saw him hand Luke the dagger, leaving himself defenceless.

We all watched as Luke undid his armour, unstrapping a particular area around his armpit. There was a small spot of skin, more impossible to hit than Percy's spot. With great difficulty, it seemed, Luke stabbed himself there, howling in pain as a flash of light filled the room, momentarily blinding me.

When the light finally faded, it revealed Luke lying on the ground beside a pile of ashes, his left side bleeding heavily. I could feel the death coming just by looking at him.

"Good... blade," Luke managed to say, his eyes returning to their normal blue.

We all moved to sit around him, Grover and Annabeth being the most emotional.

"You knew... but-" he began.

"Shhh... you died a hero's death, you'll get into Elysium," Annabeth whispered, trembling slightly.

"Think... rebirth. Try three times... Isles of the Blest..." he said weakly.

"You always pushed yourself too hard," Annabeth stated, sniffling.

They held hands as Luke stared at her, coughing up blood.

"Did you... did you love me?" he asked.

"There was a time- there was a time I thought I did but..." she trailed off, looking at Percy, "You were more like a brother, Luke, but I didn't love you," she added softly.

He nodded, understanding.

"We can- we can get ambrosia-" Grover said.

"Grover, you're the bravest satyr I have ever known, but there's no healing this."

He then turned to me with a sympathetic looked despite his position. "I'm s-sorry about your memories, and especially Ethan."

I managed a weak nod as I sniffled, tears threatening to come out again at the mention of him.

Luke looked at Percy last. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it... don't let it happen again..."

"I won't, I promise," Percy answered, swallowing hard.

Luke nodded just as I felt death overtake him.

** (A/N: I mostly copied Luke's death because I honestly loved that scene so much. Rick Riordan did an amazing job writing it so I just kept it as it is. Sorry if that disappoints any of you.**

** I know I say sorry A LOT but every time I say it, I actually mean it. I'm serious when I say I'm sorry for messing up parts and copying the story.)**


	25. The truth

** (A/N: Hey guys! Enjoy this new part and I'll continue talking at the end of this. Stay safe/healthy! Btw, I'm gonna copy some parts and junk, sorry.)**

When the Olympians burst into the throne room, ready for a fight, they didn't expect to see a satyr and three demigods, one supposedly being dead, standing over the broken body of a traitor.

"We need a shroud, a shroud for the son of Hermes," Percy said, his voice cracking.

Soon the Fates arrived, carrying Luke's body, which was wrapped in a green and white shroud, out of the room. Hermes stopped them momentarily, and I assume it was to give his blessing, but I was too weak by then to understand what was happening.

Not long after, Annabeth passed out and was healed by Apollo while I was walked/carried out by Connor and Travis. I didn't want to, but Percy and Grover insisted that I get some medical attention. Apparently I looked like death, which I took as a compliment considering who my father was.

"Sorry about your neck," I apologized, my arms slung over the boys' shoulders.

"Eh, it's fine," Connor said, him and his brother sporting only a couple of cuts and bruises in comparison to everyone else.

"I feel like an idiot for trusting Kronos now..." I grumbled, my headache returning.

"It's not your fault you're incredibly gullible." Travis shrugged.

I glared at him. "If I wasn't on the verge of blacking out, I would punch you."

He rolled his eyes in response, probably not that threatened by a half-conscious daughter of Hades.

The makeshift infirmary was in the gardens, but with Apollo and some minor gods' help, it was moved into Apollo's 'hospital'. It was basically just this giant golden palace filled with tons of medicine and other medical equipment.

The boys helped me onto a cot just as Will Solace came by, looking close to exhaustion as well. He quickly gave me some ambrosia and nectar before ordering me on bed rest and going onto the next patient.

"Arina!" Nico exclaimed, appearing by the doorway of the palace and rushing up to me. He pulled me into a hug, which surprised me because it seemed so unlike him, but he quickly moved away after.

"Uh, we're gonna help Percy with the other injuries," Travis stated awkwardly before walking away with Connor.

"Hey Neeks," I greeted tiredly, resting my head on a pillow.

The cot was a simple metal one with a white sheet and an oddly comfortable pillow. Just lying on it made my eyes droop and make me want to fall asleep, which I was close to doing.

"How are you even alive?" he demanded, sitting on the edge of the cot, "I felt your soul go into the Underworld."

"Well, I didn't die for starters." I began telling him what happened, Alabaster creating a Mistform body, Hecate managing to send that body into the Underworld, me getting transported to San Francisco. Then I told him about me being in the Titan army, my memories being altered, fighting on the opposite side of the war.

The only thing I left out was Ethan; I wasn't ready to talk about him just yet.

"I'm-I'm glad you're alive," he replied, fidgeting with his sword.

My weapon was lying on the ground beside the cot alongside my helmet. It was already uncomfortable enough wearing my armour on the cot, I didn't want to bring along my sword too.

"Yeah." I yawned. "Me too..."

* * *

I woke up a few hours later, Nico snoring on the foot of the bed that made me laugh. I looked around and saw all of the non-severely injured demigods were gone, just some river nymphs walking around tending to the still unconscious ones.

"Um... where's... where's everyone?" I asked a nymph that passed by me.

She jumped at my voice, turning around. "Uh-uh-uh they're at the throne room. Lord Z-Zeus has ordered every able-bodied demigod to at-attend," she stuttered nervously, going to the next patient.

I sighed, sitting up on my cot and rubbing my head.

I felt sore and a bit uneasy still, but my headache was gone. No memories flashed in my head, so I assumed that was a good thing.

"Hey, Neeks, wake up." I gently shook my brother.

He jumped up, holding up his sword, poised to attack anyone but relaxed when he saw me. "What is it?" He yawned, slumping back onto the bed.

"C'mon, Zeus is gonna get mad if we miss his meeting," I stated.

I pushed myself out of the cot slowly, Nico helping me up, before we walked together to the throne room.

No one batted an eye when we slipped in as Zeus droned on and on, begrudgingly thanking Poseidon and Hades for their help. Then he went on to awarding demigods for their effort in the battle.

Nico and I sat cross-legged near our dad, who patted both of us on the shoulder when we sat down. He was sitting on a simple chair, nothing as fancy or intricate as the other gods or his in the Underworld.

The next person who was rewarded was Grover. Mr. D gave him the title of Lord of the Wild, appointing him into the Cloven of Elders. Naturally, this shocked Grover so much he collapsed on the spot, some naiads having to carry him away while the wine god grumbled.

Afterwards was Annabeth. Her mother said Olympus needed to be rebuilt, but she suggested Annabeth redesign it. My friend then became the official architect of Olympus, getting to reconstruct Olympus.

"Percy Jackson!" Poseidon bellowed, ordering his son forward.

The throne room went silent as Percy walked forth, bowing at Zeus before kneeling before his father.

"Rise, my son."

He stood up, glancing around uneasily before catching my eye. I gave him a nod of encouragement while I internally hoped I wasn't supporting him towards his death.

The gods can be unpredictable, you know.

"A great hero deserves to be rewarded, no one can argue this, correct?" Poseidon proclaimed.

Silence was the response, so I presume they all agreed.

"The council agrees," Zeus began, "Percy Jackson, you can have any gift from the gods."

Percy's eyes widened. "Any gift?"

"Yes, any, and I know what you will ask. You will ask for the greatest gift of them all, one that hasn't been bestowed upon a hero in centuries. If you so wish, we will grant you immortality. You will become a god and serve as your father's lieutenant for all of eternity."

"Um... a god?" he responded.

I blinked, shocked by the offer. Percy could become a god, living with his father for all time. He'll never die, he'll never age, he would become all-powerful.

Yet, he'll watch us age, grow old, get hurt, and eventually die. He'll eventually be left alone as he sees all his friends wither and disappear.

I had a feeling I knew what his answer was before he opened his mouth.

"No," Percy said.

The look of outrage was evident on all the gods' faces, but the look Annabeth gave Percy seemed to make up for it.

Gods, those two better start dating soon.

"No? You're turning down our generous offer?" Zeus exclaimed, looking close to frying my friend instead.

"I'm honoured, but I still got a lot of life let to live. I don't wanna peak in my sophomore year," Percy answered.

The gods were still fuming, however, my friend continued.

"But I do want a gift still. Do you promise to grant it still?"

"If it is within our power," Zeus replied, pausing to think beforehand.

"It is, but I want you to swear on the River Styx you will."

"You don't trust us?" Mr. D cried.

"Someone once told me." Percy looked at my dad. "You should always get a solemn oath."

My dad shrugged. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus bellowed, "We will grant your _reasonable_ request long as it is within our powers. We swear on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed before Percy continued. "I want you to claim _all_ your children... from _all_ the gods."

The council glanced at each other, apprehensive and uncomfortable.

"Percy, what do you mean exactly?" Poseidon inquired.

"Kronos could've have gained power if it weren't for so many demigods feeling unwanted by their parents. They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, they had a good reason," Percy elaborated.

"You dare acc-" Zeus began, anger flashing in his eyes.

"No more undetermined. I want you to claim all your demigod children by the age of thirteen. I want them all to be brought to camp and not left out to the mercy of the monsters.

"And the minor gods, Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Hebe, Janus, all of them, they deserve amnesty. Same goes for the rest of the peaceful Titan-kind like Calypso. And Hades-"

"You're calling me a minor god?" My dad's eyes flared.

"No, my lord, I mean your children shouldn't be left out. Nico and Arina both earned a cabin at camp, they've proven that. No unclaimed children in the Hermes cabin, wondering who they're parents are. All the gods deserve a cabin at camp for their children.

"And no pact of the Big Three, it didn't work out anyway. From now on, we'll accept and train all of them at camp. All of them should be welcomed and treated with respect. This is my wish," Percy finished.

"Is that all?" Zeus snorted.

"Percy, you ask for a lot," Poseidon stated.

"I hold you all to your oath," Percy replied.

Surprisingly, they all agreed to it after Athena pointed out it was a mistake to neglect the minor gods and their children, stating it helped Kronos gain the upper hand.

Not long after, an honour guard appeared, forming an aisle for Percy to walk down.

I stayed in the throne room long after all my friends and the gods left, remaining with my dad, Nico, Hestia, and Zeus. Apparently, Zeus wanted to talk to us in private.

"It's true then that you fought in the Titan army?" Zeus inquired from his throne.

"Y-yes, Lord Zeus," I responded, kneeling at the foot of his throne.

"She was tricked by our father," my dad defended.

"Yes, but that doesn't dispute the fact she still aided them," Zeus stated, giving me a cold look that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Brother, I can vouch for her loyalty to Olympus."

All our heads turned to Hestia, who was now sitting in front of her hearth in her eight-year-old form.

I glanced between the three siblings, worry growing in my stomach. What was going to happen to me?

"Fine." Zeus let out a sigh. "She will be given amnesty as well. However, she must be under constant supervision by a trusted demigod, someone of equal power, or at Camp Half-Blood."

I nodded my head again, my nerves relaxing ever so slightly.

"You are dismissed." With a flash of lightning, Zeus disappeared.

I stood up, Nico appearing by my side and helping me. My headache had unfortunately returned, leading me to the conclusion I'll be stuck in the infirmary at camp for quite some time.

"T-thank you, Lady Hestia." I bowed my head at her as I walked back to the hearth.

"It is nothing," she replied before something appeared in her hand.

I stared at for a couple of seconds before realizing it was my bag, the same one I used while assisting Kronos. It seemed puffier than usual, but I pushed the thought aside.

"Here you go." She handed me the bag, causing me to nod my thanks again before exiting with my dad and Nico.

"It is good you're still alive," my dad stated, patting me on the shoulder after he shrunk back down to human size.

"Y-yeah, I guess..." I said nervously.

My dad waved us off before walking towards another building, leaving Nico and I to walk ourselves down to the newly rebuilt bridge to the elevator. Along the way, I found Artemis Iris Messaging someone, but the person she was messaging sounded oddly familiar.

When she turned around and ended the message, she was surprised by my appearance.

"Lady Artemis." My brother and I bowed our heads.

"Hello, Arina, have you reconsider my offer to join the Hunt?" she inquired, raising her eyebrow.

I fidgeted. "Sorry, m'lady, but I'm still trying to figure some stuff out. I'm not sure how I'll feel about being immortal still..."

She nodded before walking off to a silver-coloured palace. Just as she was about to enter it, she turned around again. "I recommend you visit your mother after you finish at camp."

I stared at her, puzzled by her recommendation before my brother dragged me to the elevator and down to the lobby.

"She knows your mom?" Nico inquired.

I slipped on my bag, surprised by how much heavier it was than usual. "I don't know, maybe?"

When we arrived in the lobby, we found Ms. Jackson and another man arguing with the security guard, who had returned to the front desk.

"Arina?" she exclaimed, shocked by my appearance.

"Yeah, I'm not dead, surprise?" I replied awkwardly.

"Where's Percy?" the man beside her asked.

"Uh, up there still." I pointed back to the elevator before staring at the man. "Um... who are you?"

"Oh, this is my husband, Paul Blofis," Ms- um, I guess, _Mrs._ Jackson- or is it Blofis, replied.

"Um, hi, I guess?" I greeted.

"Hello," he replied, seeming just as uncomfortable as me.

I quickly waved goodbye before walking outside with Nico, finding Mrs. O'Leary terrorizing a hot dog stand. Once we calmed her down, Nico and I started walking, no destination in mind.

"How have you been anyway? Since my fake death," I inquired, fiddling with my rings.

He sighed. "Same as usual... I told Bianca about it; she didn't believe you'll go into Asphodel though either."

He was a bit taller than me now, so I had to reach up a bit and tug him down to ruffle his hair. He tried pulling away, but I held him down.

"Got anyone special while I was gone?"

He turned red, finally able to push me away. "N-n-no."

I bit my lip, deciding to tread carefully. "So no... guys in mind?"

My brother turned a darker shade of red now, covering his face in his hands. "I do not like guys."

I rolled my eyes, slipping my arm over his shoulder. "I don't care who you like to be honest, long as you're happy I'm happy."

He cracked a small smile, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"I won't tell anyone _if_ you do though," I pointed out before seeing a familiar red-head mount on a black pegasus.

"Rachel? What are you doing?" I questioned.

"I need to get to camp. I finally figured out what my visions were about, _I'm_ supposed to be the next Oracle," she responded.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You'll die! No one has-" Nico began before Blackjack went into the air with Rachel.

I stared at them before glancing at Nico. We both then ran towards the Empire State Building, trying to find Percy to tell him what had happened.

We found him inside with Annabeth, his mom, and his step-dad.

"It's Rachel, I just ran into her on 32nd Street," Nico started.

"What did she do this time?" Annabeth frowned.

"Not what, _where_. We told her she'll die trying, she even took Blackjack-" I continued.

"She took my pegasus?" Percy asked.

We nodded before saying in unison, "She's heading to Camp Half-Blood."

* * *

Nico and I were too weak to shadow travel, and the traffic was terrible since everyone was freaking out, so Percy had to call some help. A pod of hippocampi appeared in the East River and took us to camp, but it felt like forever until we finally arrived there.

We dismounted on the beach and ran towards the Big House after Argus directed us. We got to the Big House, seeing Rachel stand out in front with her arms out as green light came out of the attic. As well, a green mist that kind of glowed was circling the ground near her.

"How did she get through?" I questioned, directing my question towards the cluster of satyrs tending to Chiron near the volleyball court.

"She flew over everything!" a satyr exclaimed, looking at me fearfully.

Oh great, now the satyrs are scared of me. Just _great_. I'm being sarcastic if you can't tell.

Percy was about to walk forward, but a couple of satyrs stopped him.

"No, Percy, you can't interrupt," Chiron insisted from his centaur-sized stretcher.

"Did you tell her my dad cursed the role?" I asked.

"Didn't you explain to her? You said you'll never-" Percy began before he got interrupted.

"I did, and I invited her to come. She had a vision that the curse was lifted," Chiron elaborated, sporting a broken arm, two legs in a splint, and a bandage wrapped around his head.

"What if it isn't?" I snapped, "then she'll end up like May, wouldn't she?"

The mist thickened around Rachel making her shudder.

"Hey! Stop!" Percy yelled. He ran forward but was hit by some invisible force field when he got too close, getting knocked to the ground.

Rachel turned and looked at him. They started talking, but it was brief before the door of the Big House opened, an all too familiar corpse walking out of it.

The Oracle walked out, possibly looking worse than ever as green light shone out from the door.

A figure appeared at the top of the Big House, one which I recognized as Apollo in a toga. He was watching the exchange between Rachel and the dead body curiously while my gut twisted in worry.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, you have the gift of the prophecy. Do you dare to continue?" Apollo inquired.

"I do," she responded, her arms still wide open.

"Then proceed."

"I accept this role. I pledge myself to the Apollo, God of Oracles. I open my eyes to the future and embrace the past. I accept the spirit of Delphi, Voice of the Gods, Speaker of Riddles, Seer of Fate."

A ghoulish mist of green came out of the Oracle's mouth and circled around Rachel, solidifying her into a column. The previous Oracle crumpled to ashes onto the ground, the only thing remaining was a faded, tie-dye dress.

I felt something fade in Rachel before returning. _Her life aura_, I realized before rushing forward with Percy despite Apollo's warnings not to after she collapsed and the mist faded.

"Percy," she said, her eyes taking a bit to focus on Percy.

"Are you okay?" he inquired.

"Ow." She pressed her hands to her head, wincing.

"I could you see you _dying_," I stated.

"I'm all right," she murmured, "but can someone help me up? The visions are... disorienting..."

Percy gave her a hand before Apollo continued.

"I present to you, our new Oracle of Delphi."

"You're kidding," Annabeth said.

"You can tell the future now?" Percy questioned, still a bit shocked.

"Well, not all the time. There's visions and words in my head- oh no-" She doubled over like someone sucker-punched her in the gut before straightening, her voice sounding tripled.

"_Eight half-bloods shall answer the call,_

_ To storm or fire, the world shall fall,_

_ An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_ And foe bears arms to the Doors of Death._"

She collapsed again, Nico and Percy catching her and bringing her towards the Big House's patio.

"I'm all right," she stated.

"What was that?" I asked.

She looked confused. "What was what?"

"That, I believe, is the next Great Prophecy," Apollo announced.

"What does it mean?" Percy inquired, making me roll my eyes.

"Barnacle Boy, we _never_ know what a prophecy means, like, ever," I pointed out.

"You probably don't need to worry about it. The last prophecy involving you didn't happen for seventy years, this one might not even happen in your lifetime," Apollo reassured before ordering us all to let Rachel rest.

"You want to head back to the Hermes cabin or the infirmary?" Nico questioned, stepping aside as Percy _still_ questioned Rachel despite Apollo's advice.

"Um... I'm not sure I'll be even welcomed there anymore since..." I trailed off, rubbing my shoulders.

Nico shook his head. "I'll go with you. If they have a problem with you, they have a problem with me."

I punched him in the shoulder. "Whatever, Gramps," I teased before walking with him to cabin eleven.

We kept on talking along the way, but Chiron interrupted us almost as soon as I got into my old cabin.

"Um... yes?" I questioned.

"It is good to have you back, Arina," he stated before handing me a faded bag.

"Uh, is that mine?" I haven't seen the bag since I was kidnapped a year ago. The bag was actually the one I had since I arrived at camp four years ago, so it was pretty worn through.

"Yes, Annabeth has been keeping it in the attic ever since your... death," he responded.

I nodded uncomfortably, accepting the bag and thanking him before entering the cabin.

What's with people giving me bags?

Once inside, I flopped down beside an empty spot on the wall and opened up both of my bags, wondering what was inside the old one and why my newer one was so puffy.

My old bag had some of my clothes in it, a notebook, and an empty flask of nectar. The newer bag had another bag in it, making me close to tears again.

It was Ethan's.

I opened my own bag, flipping through a box of photos of Ethan and I. There were some other mementos and basic necessities, but I couldn't look at them without crying. Everything in the bag reminded me of Ethan.

"Arina, what's this doing in here?" Nico held up a box of condoms, making me turn a shade of red brighter than Rachel's hair.

"Uh-uh-uh that was a prank!" I defended myself, snatching them out of his hands and chucking it at, I believe, Connor's bunk.

Nico laughed, shaking his head before giving me a stern look. "Nothing like that happened with you and some-"

"NO! OH GODS NO!" I exclaimed, possibly turning more red.

I shoved Ethan's bag back into my mine, not wanting to invade his privacy more than I should. I might just leave it in the Underworld or return it to him in-

He's in Elysium. How the _hell_ did I not realize that until now? He's in the Underworld. Ohmygods. Wait- maybe he didn't- no, he was a hero in the end and deserves Elysium as much as Luke does.

I kept on the ground of the cabin, talking to my brother just as some campers started to trickle in, freezing me on the spot. I had no clue how to react to a bunch of kids I tried beating up merely a day ago.

"Oh, hey," Chris greeted me, some familiar faces behind him.

"I c-can leave-"

"No, it's fine, this was your cabin before. You can stay here while they're building the Hades cabin anyway," he insisted before walking through and sitting on my old bunk.

Connor and Travis were the other two people in the cabin that weren't utterly terrified or hated me, judging from their expressions. Even Eliza looked like she'll skewer me, and we were pretty good friends before.

I saved her from an abusive boyfriend for gods' sake!

Later on, everyone went out to the shroud burnings, but I didn't have the heart to go. If I went, I could have to stand there, watching the shrouds of my friends I helped get killed burn and feel the eyes of the whole camp glare at me.

Dinner went the same as well, so I tried declining the offer but Nico, Annabeth, and Percy all dragged me out to the Dining Pavilion so I won't 'starve to death', or whatever that meant. Unfortunately enough, I got to sit at the head table with my brother and watch him get patted on the back for helping while some Ares campers sneered at me.

"They'll come around," Chiron reassured me.

"Yeah, like in fifty years," I grumbled, pushing my food around.

I went to line up to burn an offering, waiting for the last person to get in line before I did too. Then, I pushed a large portion of my meal into the fire, thanking Hestia for helping me, Hades for being my dad, and Zeus for not incinerating me.

"Gods, you're gonna end up being just as starved as your brother," Percy remarked when he saw my almost empty plate.

"I don't feel like eating..." I admitted.

After dinner, I went up onto the Hermes cabin roof and just sat there, gazing at the stars. I snuck off before any of my old friends could catch me so I didn't have to deal with them nagging me.

Later on that night, when I looked over at the Dining Pavilion, I cracked a smile. Percy and Annabeth were kissing, but it was promptly interrupted by Clarisse and a crowd of campers. Then, they carried the lovebirds to the lake, tossing them in before waiting on the side, but I knew it would be a while before they came up again.

When you're the son of Poseidon, you can stay underwater as long as you like with the one you're in love with.

* * *

The next few weeks actually got a bit better, but not a whole lot. Most of the campers I was friends with before or were my age started talking to me again, however, most of my old enemies and the younger kids didn't.

Somehow, one day, I got roped into playing Spin the Bottle with the rest of the senior campers and my friends.

"Why can't I just watch the undead make our cabin?" Nico whined as I pulled him down beside me.

I made him join too. If _I_ was going to suffer, he was too.

We all sat in a circle together near the fireworks beach. Travis managed to steal a bottle of beer from someone and was using it to spin around after Katie dumped the contents into a bush, much to the shock of Travis and the nymph living in the bush.

"It was just _one_ bottle," he complained, "we couldn't have gotten _that_ drunk."

"For starters, all of us are underage," Katie pointed out.

"Well, in America, yes," I added.

"True, beer is a soft drink in Russia," Percy stated, earning him a weird look from Annabeth while they held hands.

They're finally dating, after liking each other for like what, four years? Give or take?

"How do you know that?" Annabeth inquired.

He shrugged. "I was bored."

"Okay, let's just start playing," Drew Tanaka said.

Not everyone here was my friend. I loathed Drew so much and I think the feeling was mutual considering she hated Silena and I was friends with her.

The people who were participating who I haven't mentioned were, Connor, Clarisse, Will, Chris, Clarisse (surprisingly), Pollux, Miranda, Jake, and Eliza, who was finally back on speaking terms with me! It wasn't a bad set up, but it made me miss my friends I lost in the war and the battle last year.

Grover was going to join, but he thought Juniper might kill him for kissing someone else so he decided just to spend some time with her instead and help bring more demigods to camp.

The gods stayed true to their word, every day new demigods came in through the barrier, more or less alive. As well, new cabins were being built and finished daily. According to Annabeth and Chiron, they might need to build an entire new wing because we were almost out of room in the area we already have.

"So what are the rules?" Miranda questioned, leaning on a vine she conjured up.

"You can only pass once," Drew stated with a wicked grin which made me hate being there more with her.

She has this ability called charmspeak which she can use to make anyone do virtually anything she desires. However, it can't be _completely_ against their will, some small part of them needs to want to, same goes for the Mist.

In my opinion, I think she'll use it in this game.

"What if it's your sibling?" I piped up, "That's kinda gross, just saying."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can pass for your siblings but otherwise, only _once_."

"Fine by me," Connor stated with a grin.

I snorted, remembering something. "How is the box of condoms treating you anyway?"

Connor flushed while everyone else hollered in laughter.

"D-did you plant them?" Travis questioned, holding his stomach while laughing.

"Maybe," I replied with a smirk.

"Better question is, where did Morales get the box," Clarisse stated.

I avoided the question. "L-let's get started, who's first?"

Drew volunteered, spinning the bottle on a piece of driftwood we found. It pointed at Percy, who looked uncomfortable.

"C'mon, pretty boy," she stated with a grin.

"W-wait how long does the kiss have to be?" Percy inquired, looking to Annabeth.

She rolled her eyes. "No funny business, Drew, but I guess two seconds."

He nodded before he leaned forward and kissed Drew briefly on the lips before retreating back to Annabeth's side.

Drew made a minorly disgusted face before sitting back down. "Your lips are salty."

"He's the son of Poseidon, you think he'll taste like lollipops or something?" I questioned with a snort.

"Whatever, Chris, you're next," she said, filing her nails instead.

Chris went next, surprisingly landing on Clarisse, which I think was safer for everyone else. Then, Jake got Miranda, Katie got Travis, Annabeth got Will, Eliza had Pollux, and Percy had to kiss Clarisse, which was the funniest thing I ever saw considering they were rivals or pretended to be.

Clarisse spat, wiping her mouth on her wrist after kissing him. "That was disgusting," she remarked, leaning back into Chris' arm.

"Guess everyone thinks you're a bad kisser, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated.

"Not you though." He peaked her on the lips while I made gagging noises, getting a laugh out of the others.

"Arina, you're up," Drew said.

I shrugged, spinning the bottle and sitting back. It spun around three times before pointing at Connor's boot.

"Ha, ha," Travis cackled at his brother's expense.

"You haven't coated your mouth in anything gross, have you?" I asked him skeptically.

"No, I would never," Connor denied.

"Everything in that sentence sounded hypocritical," I pointed out before kissing him on the lips and going back to my spot.

The game continued on like this until we had the first gay kiss in the group. It was between Percy and Nico, which worried me.

"Uh... I guess we have to do this unless you-" Percy started.

"I pass," Nico said before he could finish his sentence.

Percy nodded, looking uncomfortable before the next person went.

The game ended when Chiron found us, and when he saw the empty bottle of beer, he sent Travis and Connor on kitchen duty for the remaining days at camp before making us all head back to our cabins.

"I can't wait to we have our own cabin," I told Nico as we slipped into the less crowded Hermes cabin.

Some of the new cabins were already built so some of the newly-claimed were moved in there, but it was still pretty busy in the Hermes cabin.

"Yeah, it looks pretty good so far," Nico commented.

"Nice job supervising the undead workers," I complimented.

"Well, you weren't willing to watch them after you summon them," he pointed out.

"Will got so mad at me for summoning them!" I exclaimed, "Just cause I nearly passed out _once_ last week, he thinks raising the dead is _bad_ for our health now!"

"Eh, it is pretty tiring," Nico remarked before yawning and curling up on a sleeping bag.

We didn't have bunks now because of new Hermes' kids, so we stuck on the floor, again. Good thing was, I wouldn't be in camp for long.

After talking with Mrs. Jackson and Percy, they told me I could live with them and attend Percy's school instead of living in the Underworld again. I guess I'm staying in Manhattan then.

I could stay at camp, but I'm kinda getting tired of the death glares and the constant whispering behind my back. A lot of people still hate me so I don't see a real point in staying in a place I'm not wanted. Well, I do have some friends, but like ten isn't gonna suffice. Anyway, most of the campers that hate me have been telling the new campers about me so the new ones hate me now too.

The last two days of camps passed by in a blur after the game. Soon, we were gathered around the fire for the bead ceremony.

The bead for that year was the Empire State Building with the names of the fallen campers written on it in Ancient Greek, making me feel more regretful than ever. There were so many names, and so many of them have been my friends.

I helped their killers, how am I supposed to be okay with that?

"Arina, here," Pollux said, handing me another bead while I was trying to put my new bead on my old, leather necklace.

"What's that?" I asked, accepting the bead and observing it.

It was a regular bead, but it had a very detailed design on it. It almost looked like-

"It's from the Battle of the Labyrinth last year, Chiron says you deserve it since you fought in it before..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck with his uninjured arm.

"Thanks," I replied before slipping it on my leather necklace in front of the other one I just got.

I couldn't really sleep that night after the campfire, so I snuck onto the roof of the Hermes cabin and just sat there, stargazing. Surprisingly, the harpies left me alone, but they usually did for some reason. I guess if anyone else was up here, they'll get eaten instead.

In the morning, I was naturally tired from not sleeping. I ignored my friends' worries though and ate a somewhat decent breakfast before packing up and heading up to the barrier with Nico, Annabeth, and Percy.

"I'll meet you there," Nico stated before shadow travelling away.

"Meet where?" Percy inquired as we stood under the shade of a tall pine tree.

"I'm... I'm going to visit the Underworld," I admitted.

Annabeth's expression softened. "You're gonna see him, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah... maybe."

She was referring to Ethan, and I _was_ going to see him. I had a couple of questions for him and I wanted some proper closure.

"You're gonna be alright?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah, I have my creepy brother and a three-headed hellhound if I get lonely," I replied sarcastically.

"True," Percy agreed with a nod, "oh, do you want to leave your bag with me? You said you were gonna make a visit or two before heading back to my place so..."

"Uh, if you don't mind." I handed him my smaller bag. "I need to grab some stuff from the Underworld anyway," I admitted.

"Okay, cool," he responded.

"There better not be any funny business between you two," Annabeth teased playfully.

"Ha, as if, like have you seen his face?" I joked.

"I am offended, I am quite attractive if you haven't noticed," Percy claimed, holding a hand at his chest to symbolize the 'wound'.

"Just try to be quiet if you two do anything in Percy's room, m'kay?" I replied before shadow travelling away, leaving both of them bright red.

* * *

I stumbled out of an alley, stuffing some ambrosia into my mouth as I adjusted my remaining backpack.

The alley was empty, besides the trash and the occasional rat. Same with the streets, but that seemed right. It was early anyway, an hour or two before noon to be exact.

I flipped my hood up before walking out of the alley, walking down the familiar streets while keeping my head down. It's not like I want to be recognized by my old neighbours.

This is probably when I should tell you _where_ I was, and I kinda think it's obvious. I was listening to Artemis' advice. I was gonna visit my crappy mom in my hometown.

The streets looked the same as they did when I was saved by the hunters, maybe a new shop here and there, but the place looks like I left it.

I heard a flirtatious giggle from across the street and saw a teenage couple making out in front of a candy shop before the owner ran out, yelling at them. However, the two teens looked awfully familiar to me as they ran across the street in my general direction.

"Luther, you're _such_ a flirt," giggled the girl, twirling her long, wavy, brown hair on her finger.

I fought the urge to gag when I realized who the guy was. Luther Davson, aka the guy who couldn't stop calling me 'Cossy' when growing up.

He has a mullet now. Oh gods, what was he _thinking_?

"Well I can't help the fact you're gorgeous, babe," he replied, kissing her nose.

_Oh gods, was I _that_ bad when I was dating Ethan_? I questioned myself mentally before continuing forward and hoping they wouldn't notice me.

I guess it helped my hair was darker now, but it started turning auburn again near the roots, which I'm still confused by. Why was my hair changing colour like this? Is it because I was on Kronos' side? I asked Chiron, but he said he didn't know why either, and Mr. D just cryptically said it was genetic.

I walked all the way to my old apartment, taking a deep breath before pulling the key out of the bottom of my backpack.

I guess I never bothered to throw it out.

I unlocked the front door and continued upstairs, trying to stop my trembling arms as flashbacks of the altered memories appeared in my head, haunting me.

"They aren't real," I whispered to myself, squeezing my eyes shut and gripping the railing until my knuckles turned white.

I kept on climbing the stairs until I got to the third floor, slipping through the door and strolling up to my old door. Then, I used the same key and unlocked it, taking a deep breath before pushing it through.

My mom was sitting on the couch, fiddling with a dead potted plant before turning and seeing me.

"Mom," I stated without emotion.

She stood up, brushing her fizzy auburn hair to the side behind her ear. She was about to speak but went into a coughing fit. Once she composed herself, she replied, "Arina... it's nice to see you again."

I nodded, stepping in and closing the door louder than needed.

She sat back down on the couch as I stood watching at the door, still feeling antsy as she played around with the gold bangle on her wrist.

"I'm assuming Artemis told you to come," she said.

"What?" How did she-

"She called me a couple of weeks ago and told me via Iris Message, we still keep in touch, you know," she elaborated in a more cryptic way.

"Wait, hold up, you know about the Greek world?" I exclaimed, unable to keep the shock out of my voice.

"I-I think I need to tell you the truth about me," Mom stated, motioning for me to sit across from her on a dusty chair.

I sat down apprehensively, playing with the straps of my backpack as I watched her carefully. "What do you mean by, the _truth_ about you?"

She sighed, leaning back on her seat and staring at the roof. "Shall I start from the beginning? But no interrupting cause this is quite a long story."

"Um, okay, I guess."

She took a deep breath before beginning. "I was born Katinka Bianchi roughly two-hundred years ago to a man named- a man named Basil Bianchi." Her voice shook when she said his name, a worry line creasing her forehead.

"My mother was a goddess, a certain one that had _never_ cheated on her husband. My mom was the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone."

My jaw-dropped. "W-wait, what? Persephone's your mom? You're a demigod too? What? And you're two-hundred years old?"

"I said don't interrupt." Her voice was firm as she narrowed her eyes.

I crossed my arms, leaning back. "Fine, I won't anymore."

"Now, where was I? Right, my mother was Persephone, which I discovered about a hundred years ago.

"Because I was a demigod, monsters were constantly attracted to my scent, and whenever I told my father this, he wouldn't believe me. He constantly told me a girl should know her place and not to speak back at men, ever. Whenever I did, he would- he would beat me..." she trailed off, rubbing her arms while looking off.

I felt sympathy for my mom all of a sudden, which was an emotion I never felt towards her, ever. I don't know how to respond to this.

"I was forced to live with that bastard up until I was seventeen, thank gods. He tried marrying me off like eight times, but I was always too horrible of a girl for any suitors to be interested. Well, I guess that makes sense why he beat me further."

I bit my lip, somewhat regretting asking my mom to indulge me in on these things. How could she so easily talk about this abuse? How can she just talk about it without a care in the world?

"I prayed to Artemis once my father got me my first suitor, and she finally answered when I was seventeen. She killed my father quickly and easily after some Hunters shot him from afar with arrows. I-it was was difficult to watch... I admit... but it was worth it.

"I accepted Artemis' invitation and joined the Hunt, forswearing any male relationships and becoming an eternal maiden until seventeen years ago. I told Artemis I wanted to settle down after nearly two centuries, but not for a male of course. I wanted to live life like a normal adult, age, have fun, all that stuff. Fortunately, she complied and released me from the Hunt but I stayed in contact with all my former hunters.

"Shortly after I left, I met someone."

"My father?" I guessed.

She shook her head, her expression filled with longing and sadness, much like the one I wore a lot after the battle in Manhattan.

"His name was Adrien Morales. We fell in love and were together until he was killed in a minor war somewhere. Then, I met your father shortly after.

"I'm not sure what he saw in me, to be honest, I was nothing special. However, we started dating briefly. Then I had you and took my first boyfriend's last name just in case my mom discovered who I was. I lied to Hades about being the daughter of Demeter, explaining my ability to control plants." She then demonstrated by bringing the dead plant back to life in the pot, turning it from a blue orchid to a red one.

"I had you, and I was happy. Well, until I met your brother's father.

"Hades and I broke up on mutual terms, knowing far too well what would happen if his brother found out he had another child. He visited occasionally, giving you gifts from time to time if you didn't notice."

"What?" I inquired.

"Well, your rings were a gift from him, for starters." She gestured to the two Imperial gold rings on my fingers. "Your first doll was from him as well, same as some of your books."

I tried to recall meeting him before, but I drew a blank.

Is that why he looked so familiar to me when we first met?

"Um... what do you mean by, until you met Dennis' dad?"

She seemed hesitant, eyeing something on the table that made me angry for being so sympathetic towards her.

A pack of cigarettes.

"Just tell me and then I can go," I stated coldly.

She sighed, again. "Your brother's father was a god as well. He was good to me when we first met and after Dennis was born, but then things changed. He found out about Hades and threatened to tell Zeus. Then... he cursed me.

"He can make people go insane, and in a way, I did. I became addicted to drugs because of it, and once the curse faded, it was too late to turn back. I tried going into rehab, twice, but I always end up going to the joint downtown and buying more stuff to smoke."

Now, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel. I was angry at my mom, of course, but I also felt pity because of what she went through. How she was abused, found happiness but it was quickly taken away, found love again, got cursed.

However, there was still one thing nagging at me that I never got an answer to for the past six years.

"Where's Dennis then? Did his dad take him?"

She paused. "I can't tell you what happened to-"

"What the hell do you mean you can't tell me? You tell me tons of stuff about yourself, but you refuse to tell me the one thing I've been dying to know for the past six years?"

I know I was being irrational, getting angry like that, but I had to let it out. I thought everything she was talking about _might_ lead up to what happened to my brother, but it didn't.

"Arina, I have my reasons and I've been lenient to you for the past fucking ten years," she stood up at the same time as I did, glaring at me.

"Lenient? You weren't even around! I practically raised Dennis until he disappeared!" I exclaimed.

"I let you go to Camp Half-Blood, didn't I? I let you go-"

"You didn't let me at all! You didn't even care what happened to me in the past sixteen years. _If_ you did, you would've IM me and told me the truth, and I _might've_ listened to you, but it's too late now!

"You never bothered to check up on me, you never got me any presents for my birthday or anything. I had to get jobs to support Dennis and I. _I_ had to make us three meals a day. _I_ had to help him with all his homework because of his dyslexia. Do you even _know_ what the other kids said to me because of you? They just think you're a bum or _I'm_ actually Dennis' mom!" I shouted, clenching my fists so hard my long nails drew blood.

"Who did you think paid for the water bill? Heating bill? Who the fuck did you think paid for this whole apartment?" she spat back.

"So what? It was mostly social services that paid for everything while you went out every night and smoked all of the government's money-"

"I gave-"

"The only fucking thing you gave either of us was life, that's fucking it. You never bothered to do anything else!"

To my astonishment, she was closed to tears now.

"Do you know how heartbroken I was when I heard you _died_? I nearly died myself! Everything I tried doing was for your brother and your benefit. You know why the monsters were never attracted to you? Because of the smell of my drugs blocked your scent! _I_ had to deal with the backlash as well! I had to use the Mist to hide your disappearance and said you ran away to your father's. It wasn't that hard though considering they all thought I was a terrible mother!" she admitted.

"Just." I took a deep breath to compose myself. "Never talk to me again, you hear me? I don't care. If you ever find Dennis, which I doubt because in a year he'll be legally dead, you know where to find me."

With that, I shadow travelled to the Underworld.

* * *

I stumbled out of a shadow, closed to tears myself from the fight with my mom. I hated that I was crying over someone so worthless of my time.

I was in my room when I arrived, so I discarded the stuff I didn't need in the closet before grabbing some more clothes and basic essentials into another indigo duffel bag. After that, I swung the bag over my shoulder before walking down the hall, running into my brother, literally.

"Hey Nico," I greeted emotionlessly.

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Did... did things go badly with your mom?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just head to Elysium before I go back to New York," I replied with a yawn.

He nodded before walking with me to the back entrance of our dad's palace, summoning a hellhound to carry us the rest of the way there.

"So how did Dad take the news?" I questioned as I gripped onto the hellhound's fur.

"Of you living with Percy? He was furious you were living with a teenage boy, especially one that was 'completely clueless and part idiot'," he replied, faking our Dad's voice.

"Woah, you made a not depressing joke!" I exclaimed in fake shock.

He shrugged, twisting his skull ring on his finger before we arrived at the gates of Elysium.

From there, we got in easily but I felt a punch in the gut by how many people I recognized in the land of heroes. Silena and Beckendorf were together, kissing, Michael was talking animately with Lee, several of my Hunter friends were talking to Zoë, and countless more campers were roaming as well.

"You want me to wait here?" he asked me, shifting on his feet.

"Yeah..." I replied, walking forward.

It didn't take me long to find him. Maybe he was expecting me.

"Hey," I said.

Ethan stood up from under a cherry tree. "Hi."

We stared at each other, roughly a metre apart. A million questions were swirling inside my head, half of them accusations the other half random banter.

"I guess I should say sorry," he stated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Um, okay..."

I never remembered it being this awkward, but that was before I found out Kronos was the one who altered my memory. Well, Hecate technically but it was by Kronos' orders.

"You found out then, huh? About your memories?" he guessed.

I nodded, biting my lip and rubbing my hands, which stopped bleeding from my argument with my mom. "Yeah... how long did you know?"

"I-I knew from the start, I was there when Hecate did it."

I nodded again, rubbing my shoulder where our matching tattoo was. "Is that why you started dating me? To keep an eye on me?"

He sighed, shaking his head, which relieved me. "Alabaster told me it would be a good idea, but I didn't fake my feelings for you. I liked you from the day we met at the party on Olympus."

I managed a small smile. "Why were you there anyway?"

"I... my mom told me to go there. She told me I'll meet someone who would help me bring balance and get every god their own throne," he revealed, making me blink in surprise.

"I guess your mom was right... but you lost a lot more too..."

"Rina, I don't blame anyone for my death. The minor gods got respect, right?"

"Yeah, there's new cabins being built for every god and more campers are being brought in from all around the world."

"Then my death was worth something."

I felt tears well up in my eyes when he said this, making my heartache for his touch once more, but that was nearly impossible. For starters, his body was never found. Also, on that note, hugging a dead body is creepy and disgusting in so many ways.

"C'mere." He opened his arms and I ran straight into them, wrapping my arms around while using my powers to make his form more solid.

I don't know how long we remained like that, hugging each other. I was crying the whole time, holding him tighter while feeling lightheaded from using my powers too long.

"Rina." He gently pushed me away, looking upset as well. "I love you, and I'll always do, but you need to move on. You're a beautiful and amazing girl who would probably win countless hearts."

I bit my lip again, spinning my charm bracelet around while avoiding his eyes. "I can get my dad to let you out. I can bring you back."

"We both know that'll hurt us both more than it needs to."

"But-"

"Just move on, okay? I'll be fine. We can still talk, but please don't get hung up by a dead ex-boyfriend when you can meet a new guy that's better-"

"But you were the best thing to ever happen to me!" I exclaimed, feeling like I was being stabbed in the heart by his words.

He smiled. "And you were the best thing to happen to me too, but promise me you'll move on. Swear on the Styx you won't get hung up on me and waste your life."

I looked down, pushing the ghostly dirt around with the tip of my boot. "I-I don't-"

"Rina, please."

I sighed, giving in. "I swear on the River Styx I'll move on from you."

Thunder rumbled in the ghostly field, signifying the oath being made.

"I love you," I said, stepping away from him.

"And I'll always will," he replied.

** (A/N continued: So this is the end of the PJO story arc, therefore HoO is next. Because I feel like Rick rn, I'm going on a ONE-week hiatus for this story. I'll continue writing this story on May 17 and have it out to you guys before or on May 23. This is for me to work on school and my video editing, sorry if this disappoints any of you. Thanks anyway, and see you in two weeks, well, 'see'.)**


	26. I wake up next to a hot guy

** (A/N: Enjoy this new chapter. Remember to wash your hands and partake in safe, healthy practices! Also, side note but if you haven't heard, PJO is getting adapted by Disney, FINALLY! If you're Wattpad you probably saw my rant already.)**

Well, my life may or may not suck, I haven't decided yet. Okay, maybe you need some explanation on how and why.

I woke up in this old building. It was pretty cool looking. It had lots of stone pillars and wooden beams supporting it all. It was like a billionaire designed a lumberjack lodge.

How is this bad? Well, for starters, I woke up with no memory and a headache. What do I mean I had no memory? I mean I remember zilch, nada, nothing at all. Naturally, I was panicking. However, I wasn't alone.

I was lying on the stone floor when I woke up. I had some shrubbery on me and dirt as well.

I looked down and saw I was wearing a faded, blue tee-shirt and black leggings, plus some worn-out sneakers. The tips of my hair were a darker shade of auburn, kind of like a dark brown. As well, I had a leather necklace with four beads, one with a green trident, one with a golden... blob or whatever, the third was an intricate maze, and the last looked like a building with tiny writing around it.

Lastly, I was wearing a silver charm bracelet with six gold or silver charms and two identical gold rings on each hand. Before I could inspect them further, I heard a groan from beside me, prompting me to glance to the side.

"Ugh... where-where am I?"

I can face to face with possibly the most handsome guy I ever met.

He had messy black hair and beautiful sea-green eyes. He had a leather necklace like me and was dressed in a blue shirt and shorts too. Besides that though, he looked muscular and probably looked as hot as a... as a god.

I realized I was staring and I turned away, blushing and pretending to look around.

"Um... who are you?" he asked.

I turned back to him, composing myself as best as I could. "Uh... I don't know, and you?"

He sighed, tilting his head towards the roof. "I don't know either."

We sat in silence before we heard a low growl from the shadows. We both turned towards it just as a figure emerged from the shadows.

It was a large wolf, probably taller than the guy beside me. It had dark, red-brown fur and a piercing look, like you _know_ you'll never beat this wolf no matter how strong you were.

"I am Lupa, and I have been tasked to train you. That is, if you're worthy," the wolf- yes the wolf was talking- said.

* * *

Turns out Lupa knew who we were, and was a goddess. Yes, a goddess, like one of those 'I can incinerate you if you look at me wrong' type. She's _extremely_ powerful and incredibly critical. Naturally, we were supposed to train under her.

I discovered from her that I was Arina Morales, a demigod daughter of Pluto, Roman god of the Underworld and riches. The other guy was Percy Jackson, son of Neptune, Roman god of the sea and horses.

According to Lupa, the gods were real, all of them. Apollo, Diana, Juno, all of them. They existed and have been secretly running the world alongside other deities from other pantheons, which Lupa told us not to worry about.

For some reason, Percy and I don't naturally call the gods by their Roman names. Lupa said we say their Greek names, which is a bad habit. Apparently the Greeks and Romans have a _bad_ history together.

Lupa trained us for months relentlessly, barely giving us a moment of breath in between drills. Under her tutelage, we learned about our powers and mastered them. As well, she informed us near the end of our training that we must journey south to San Fransisco to a camp for demigods and legacies like ourselves.

Legacies were descendants of demigods basically. It's like if a demigod had a child with someone else, their child would be considered a legacy.

It was around mid-May when she finally sent us off to our either our deaths or future. Well, her motto was 'Conquer, or die'.

Percy and I were currently going through a market together, trying to find an easy place to steal some food before we could continue.

"Don't you find it weird we both woke up with no memory at the Wolf House?" I inquired, eyeing the bins full of fruit.

The Wolf House was the name of the place we woke up.

We had been on our own for weeks, stealing and hitchhiking along the way. Nobody bothered us that much, mainly because I manipulated the Mist, which is this thing that hides stuff from mortals, and Percy just scares them off with his 'wolf stare'.

The wolf stare is like a look that says "No matter how bad you think you are, I'm worse". It's really helpful whenever gangs try to attack us.

"Well, I do remember one thing," he replied, looking around with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, someone's name, right?"

A wistful look appeared on his face, which made my gut twist in jealousy for some reason.

"Annabeth," he said.

I looked towards the stands, trying to ignore the fact I was jealous of whoever that was.

Percy and I weren't even a thing! Why was I so jealous of a girl neither of us remembers or possibly know? Percy can be with whoever he wants and I don't care.

Yep. Don't care whatsoever.

"How close are we to the camp?" Percy questioned as we neared a thrift shop.

"Well, we're in..." I stood on the tip of my toes, looking for the sign that had the name of the market. "Bargain Mart, so maybe a couple of hours away? We don't really need food if we get there soon enough."

He nodded as we passed by a shop.

"What?" I noticed he stopped and held up a pillow pet jokingly.

"Should I?"

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "Yes, Percy, buy a panda pillow pet instead of food."

He rolled his eyes in response before _actually_ buying it with the few dollars we stole and walking out of the store proudly.

"Oh my gods, you're a bigger idiot then I realized." I smacked him upside the head before taking the pillow pet.

"If you wanted it so bad, you could've just asked me," he remarked, snatching it out of my arms.

"Well, was there a _peacock_ pillow pet?"

If I was gonna get a pillow pet, I would've gotten one that looked like my favourite animal.

"Uh... no?"

"Did you read the sign?"

He paused. "I can't read."

"You also can't be killed either, _yet_," I pointed out as we passed another store with two ladies running it in headwraps and old dresses.

Something about those ladies seemed wrong, like, _really_ wrong. When I passed by them, I could've sworn I heard hissing noises, but I could've been wrong, right? Why would two women make hiss- oh no.

"We have to go. _Now._" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the ladies.

Unfortunately, they caught sight of us.

"Ah! What a beautiful smelling couple!" one lady exclaimed.

"Um, we're not dat- wait what do you mean by smell?" Percy asked, confused.

"Shut up and run Barnacle Boy, I'm pretty sure those are monsters."

Both ladies jumped into the air, abandoning their headwraps replacing them with a head full of snakes and sprouting wings out of their backs.

"Oh great, Gorgons," he muttered as we burst into a run, weaving through the crowd who had yet to notice the monsters.

"We will get revenge for our sister!" one shrieked.

I leaped over a police car, pulling the door open and sliding into the driver's seat just as Percy got into the passenger seat. Then, I hot-wired it before slamming my foot on the gas and spinning the wheel.

"Hold on!" I warned as the monsters stopped in front of the car.

I drove right over them, turning them to dust before driving away from the market as fast as I could.

"When did you learn to drive?"

"I don't know, must be instinct or damn luck." I spun the wheel to the left, following the dirt path towards a field. "We can lose them over there."

"We could've just stayed back and fought," he stated.

"With the way monsters are reforming? No way."

"I can't get hurt, remember?"

"Yeah, well, _I can_," I argued just as something jumped on the roof.

We both slammed the doors into the faces of the Gorgons before rolling into the field and breaking into a run.

However, just as I started running, I felt a stabbing pain in my shoulder, causing me to whip around and summon my blades and slice whatever hit me. Turns out, it was one of the snakes on the Gorgon's head.

I discovered while training my rings could turn into twin Imperial Gold siccae blades if I will them too. Then, I can transform them back into rings when I finish. Fortunately, I could never lose them like if I dropped them they'll appear on my fingers again like Percy's pen.

Percy had a magical bronze pen that if uncap it, it turns into a sword. Then you can just turn it back by tapping the pen with its cap. Cool, right?

"Are you alright, Arina?" Percy questioned as I caught up to him.

I was practically a full foot shorter than him too. I hated it.

"Y-yeah, just got bit by one of those-"

"You got bit? Y'know those things are venomous, right?"

"L-let's just get there, okay?"

We continued running, but I could feel the venom already start affecting me.

My breaths soon became more laboured as the pain in my shoulder increased. Every step caused a sudden spike of pain in my shoulder making me momentarily see red only.

"It's useless to run to that little camp of yours! Our army is marching as we speak!" one exclaimed.

"How are you even alive? Shouldn't you, I don't know, _remain_ dead after we run you over with a car?"

"The Doors of Death are open now! We have been released by the great earth mother!" the other shrieked.

Something about those words, 'Doors of Death' triggered something in the back of my mind, like a forgotten memory. It felt important, but I didn't know why.

Then, I tripped as we reached a hill, tumbling down and landing awkwardly on my injured side. I cried out in pain as my vision blurred and my limbs started tingling before I lost feeling in them.

"Arina!" a blurry figure above me exclaimed before I shut my eyes and rolled onto my other side.

I felt myself be lifted up, my arms wrapping around something as my head rested against someone's shoulder. They smelled vaguely like the ocean, the salty air and the seaweed mixing all together.

"Percy..." I murmured, opening my eyes and trying to figure out where I was.

"It's fine, I got you now," he said relatively close to my face.

Oh. My. Gods. I'm on his back. My head's on his shoulder. I was sniffing his hair.

Shit.

However, I was too weak to do anything so I let him piggyback me forward.

"Did... did we lose them? The G-Gorgons?" I questioned.

"Yeah," he replied, "we're almost there anyway."

We arrived at a tunnel with two teens standing on each side. One was a chubby Asian boy and the other was a short girl with curly brown hair, golden eyes, and darker skin. They were both wearing standard armour and had a weapon, the girl having a cavalry sword and the boy was wielding a bow. They both looked at us in confusion.

"Monsters! Behind us!" Percy yelled as he ran past them.

We run through the tunnel, arriving at a river. He easily ran through it before I climbed off of him, shooting a beam of shadows towards the Gorgons, who just flew over the tunnel.

Oh yeah, I have shadow powers apparently.

The two other demigods tried helping, one firing arrows while the other tried slashing her sword and it to no avail.

I used the last of my strength to fire more shadows, piercing their bodies just as Percy summoned a water tornado and engulfing them in it. Their bodies disintegrated and were blown down the current of the river.

A crowd formed on the other side of the river a couple of yards from us, some clad in armour and some not, watching us.

A dark-haired girl in armour stood at the front, a purple cape flowing behind her. Something about the way she looked so level-headed told me she was the leader, or praetor as Lupa informed us.

A flash of light appeared between us, causing us all to turn away momentarily. Then a figure appeared once the light died down.

He had a stoic expression as he looked down at the rest of us. He stood at least double or triple the height of the tallest camper, and he wore a well-made suit. However, something about him seemed oddly familiar.

The crowd all went down on one knee as I leaned against Percy, already feeling light-headed and drained from using my powers and the venom.

"Lord Pluto! To what do we owe the honour!" one of the campers exclaimed.

"I've been told to bring you these demigods by Juno. This is Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune," he said with mild dislike, "and my daughter Arina Morales! They both have been put into a deep sleep and finally have awoken. They shall be inducted into the legion immediately!" And with another flash of light, he was gone.

I crumpled to the ground as the pain became unbearable. I vaguely heard someone yelling for help as I laid on the ground, semi-conscious.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was a guy with red-black hair.

* * *

I woke up, again, on something relatively comfortable. I opened my eyes and saw a white, marble roof and two figures beside me, either talking or arguing.

I pushed myself up, wincing when I felt pain in my shoulder.

"Arina, you're awake!" Percy exclaimed, being one of the people beside me.

"What... what happened?" I inquired, looking around the room while rubbing the side of my head.

There were rows upon rows of cots with white sheeting. As well, there were a few teens here and there with medical bags, judging from the red cross on the covers. The place was mostly empty otherwise besides from a cupboard in the back filled with jars and bags of some golden liquid and ambrosia squares. There were some other stuff, but I couldn't tell what it was from my spot.

"Well, your dad showed up and claimed you, said some stuff, then you passed out and were carried here," he elaborated, rubbing his neck.

I nodded before looking at the guy next to him.

He had black hair with red highlights and hazel eyes. He was wearing a purple shirt with the letters 'SPQR' in gold with a golden wreath encircling them, much like the rest of the people I vaguely recall seeing earlier. He also seemed to have a marking on his arm, but his arms were crossed so I couldn't get a good look at it.

"Hey, I'm Quilo," he introduced.

"Arina," I responded with a nod.

"Anyway, Reyna said she wants you two to meet with our augur before we can induct you into the legion," he said, "you're feeling well enough for a walk?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sure a little venomous snake can't take me down." I swung my legs off the bed and stood up slowly.

Surprisingly, I didn't fall down or get dizzy.

"Who's the augur?" I questioned as I walked out with them.

"The better question is, _what's_ an augur," Percy pointed out.

"The augur's job is to interpret omens and provide guidance for future endeavours. And it's Octavian, he's a legacy of Apollo," Quilo elaborated with distaste at the name.

"You don't like him, huh?" I questioned.

"He can be... a bit of an egomaniac. He's been trying to become the new praetor."

"What happened to your old praetor?" Percy asked.

"Jason went missing nine months ago after getting appointed praetor. No one has heard from him since."

We stopped just a couple of feet away from the infirmary.

Around us were more buildings lined up together, all designed in Roman fashion. Surrounding them were white pillars of marble. Outside of the pillars were two buildings, one looked like barracks and the other I couldn't tell. Down the hill was a path towards something farther away I couldn't see and a stable.

"Anyway, I need to do inventory for the war games tonight. Hazel said she'll help you get to Temple Hill from here." Quilo nodded towards the girl with curly brown hair from earlier before walking away.

She was wearing a Camp Jupiter shirt, which I'm assuming was the SPQR shirt, a jacket on top of it, and jean shorts. She seemed somewhat distracted, but there was an air of kindness that shone from her.

"Hi, I'm Hazel," she greeted before leading us down the path.

"Who's Reyna?" I whispered to Percy.

"She's this really scary praetor," he responded.

I snorted, punching him in the shoulder. "Wow, you're scared of the praetor?"

"Reyna's quite intimidating," Hazel pointed out, "she's been running the legion on her own for nearly a year since Jason went missing."

I nodded. "Um, by the way, who's your godly parent?" I asked.

Something about her vibe felt familiar. Aside from kindness, there was something much deeper than that inside her.

"Oh, I'm a daughter of Pluto too," she stated brightly.

"Ooh nice, I have a sister."

That's why she felt familiar.

"And a brother."

I gave her a confused expression. "What?"

"I'll introduce to him later. We should get to Octavian soon," she said nervously.

We arrived at Temple Hill, which was just as the name implied. There were temples and shrines dedicated to most major gods. As well, there was another building in the centre, trails of animal stuffing lying around outside.

We walked up to that building to find a very pale, blond dude stabbing stuffies and muttering stuff.

"Uh, your augur, is a teddy bear murder?" I questioned.

The guy turned around, leaning against the table of disembodied teddy bears. "I am Octavian, and these are sacrificial offerings."

"Yes, cause the gods love stuffed animals," Percy remarked sarcastically.

"Octavian, Reyna wants you to consult the gods before bringing them both into the legion," Hazel stated.

"What happened with Reyna?" I inquired to Percy.

"She recognizes me, but she wants to meet you too. Well, when you're conscious," he responded.

"Ah!" Octavian exclaimed, snatching Percy's pillow pet which I didn't notice he was carrying, "perfect!" He began stabbing the panda as we stared at him.

"Told you not to buy it," I whispered.

"Oh shut up."

Octavian examined the insides before discarding it onto the pile of stuffies. "Yeah, you're good. Here's you're probatio tablets." He threw two, small, stone tablets at us both.

We nodded before he turned around again.

"Oh, remember to vote for me in the next meeting. Also, your brother's here," he said, most likely directing it to Hazel, before waving us away.

We walked away once more, but I cast a look behind me.

Octavian had turned back at the same time, narrowing his eyes at me before grumbling something and rubbing his forehead.

_Why does he look so... familiar?_

We walked further down the hill before coming across a guy in an aviator jacket and all black. He had messy black hair, even worse than Percy, brown eyes, and olive skin. He had a black sword at his belt, tied by some sort of black chain.

"Hey Nico, this is Percy and Arina, they were brought to camp earlier today," Hazel introduced.

"Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo," he responded, holding out his hand, which Percy and I both shook.

"Do I... do I know you?" Percy inquired.

Nico paused, giving me a glance before facing Percy again. "No, I don't."

I stared at him, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. Just _something_ about him looked recognizable to me, but I couldn't place where.

_Probably the fact he's also a son of Hades- wait no, Pluto_, my conscience reasoned with me.

"Anyway, we should go meet Reyna, let's go," I grabbed Percy by the wrist and pulled him away, waving goodbye to them both.

We walked down the hill to the base before Percy led me to the praetors' house.

It was a large building with two separate rooms. One was locked while the other was opened. Inside the open one was the girl from earlier in a purple cape surrounded by two metal dogs on a throne-like chair.

She had dark hair braided to the side and calculating stare. She had an air of authority around her, but I could sense there was something else in there as well.

"Percy," she greeted before eyeing me.

"Uh, you wanted me?" I questioned, glancing at the dogs uneasily.

"Yes, Lord Pluto said your name was Arina Morales, correct?" she inquired standing up from the throne and walking closer to me.

"Yes."

"Hm... does the name Piper ring a bell then?" she asked, catching me off guard.

I thought for a moment. _Did_ that name seem familiar? Yes? No? Maybe?

"Um... no, why?"

She pulled something out of pocket and handed it to me, a picture. There were two girls in the picture, one looked like a younger me and the other one I didn't recognize. She had brown, choppy hair and kaleidoscope-coloured eyes though. We were making a weird pose in a photo booth from the looks of it.

"The other girl is named Piper, she went missing around the same time as my co-praetor Jason. Some have speculated they ran off together, but Jason knows the bounds of leadership that praetorship entails," she explained.

"And-"

"She mentioned you quite a lot, she always thought you might've been a demigod yourself," Reyna stated.

I bit my lip, struggling to remember anything about her, but nothing came up. I had a very blurry recollection of yelling at a group of girls, but nothing else.

"Well, sorry but I don't remember her," I admitted.

Reyna nodded her head before waving us off. "We will meet outside later to decide what cohort you two would be put in. You can keep the picture though, see if it jogs your memory."

Percy and I nodded in reply before slipping outside and walking around.

"She wasn't that scary," I remarked, slipping the photo into a pocket on my pants.

"Well, at least she didn't claim that you 'ruined her life' or whatever. Also, she held me at knifepoint too," Percy responded.

I laughed. "I guess she likes me more than."

He rolled his eyes in response as we passed a group of kids playing tag or something. They all looked around the age of ten, maybe a little older or younger. They all wore the standard purple shirt and all had markings on their arms I couldn't see quite that well. However, one certain kid caught my eye.

He had black hair and blue eyes. His skin was fairly tanned and he seemed the most serious out of all the kids. The way he tagged the kids and talked to them made it seem like he was in charge, but obviously he wasn't.

"Hey! Dennis! Can you help me with these crates of ambrosia?" Quilo inquired, appearing behind a pillar and talking to that kid.

"Sure," he replied before waving goodbye to the others and helping Quilo.

I stared at the both of them, feeling a tingling feeling in the back of my head, like something was trying to wiggle free. Unfortunately, before I could decipher it, Percy brought my attention back to reality.

"Hey, you okay?"

I turned away from them both and faced Percy. "Uh, yeah, just saw something. Nothing important."

He nodded before we ran into the chubby Asian guy from the tunnel. His name was Frank Zhang, and he was fairly new to camp as well, only arriving about a month ago.

"Who'd you think your godly parent is?" I asked him as he showed us around the Principia, which was the name of the place we were walking in.

"Um... maybe Apollo? I'm pretty good at the bow and I'm hoping he'll claim me soon," Frank stated.

"How long do campers usually wait until they're claimed?" Percy inquired.

"According to Dakota, the centurion of my cohort, campers usually remained unclaimed for quite a while up until recently. Usually, Lupa informs us if we're powerful enough, or we receive a letter of recommendation from our godly parent or our family. Apparently, after August last year, campers kept on getting claimed nonstop," Frank explained.

"Huh, weird," I commented.

A weird expression passed over Percy's face for a moment before disappearing, too quick for me to properly decipher it. However, I feel like it was something related to the sudden burst in godly claims.

"Hey Arina! Percy! Frank!" Hazel greeted, running up to us, "The cohorts are here to claim you!"

"H-hi Hazel," Frank said, turning a bit red.

"Uh, how exactly does that work? Do we have a duel to the death or something?" I questioned.

She shook her head. "You usually get admitted with recommendation letters. The best letters get you into the First Cohort, and worst or none at all get you into the Fifth."

"Which cohort are you two in?" Percy inquired.

"The Fifth," they responded in unison before looking at each other and blushing.

Hm... what's this here? Do I sense something happening between these two?

"Why is the First the best anyway?" I asked as we walked into the centre of the forum.

"Um... I guess because they just are? The Fifth was the best until one of our members lost our legion standard in a failed mission to Alaska, costing the lives of many legionaries along the way thirty years ago. Then Jason was bringing it back up, but then he went missing," Hazel elaborated.

We arrived to the spot where the cohorts were picking us. Several people in togas stood around, talking to each other in a serious manner. The only one who didn't look remotely serious was a tall, black-haired guy. He actually looked more drunk, to be honest.

"Attention centurions!" Reyna exclaimed, "we have two probatios here in need of a cohort, children of Lord Pluto and Lord Neptune respectively. Per tradition, recommendation letters from family members are required. However, they don't have them, so who will invite them into their legion?"

Silence was her response before Hazel spoke up with Frank.

"We will invite into the Fifth."

I glanced at Percy, who nodded in confirmation. "We accept."

The other centurions dispersed without a thought but two remained, the drunk-looking guy and a girl with reddish-brown hair.

"I'm Gwendolyn, and this is Dakota." She gestured to the drunk guy.

"Uh, is he..." I began uneasily.

Something about drunk or drugged people made me feel oddly angry or nervous. I guess people who have been intoxicated in some way _are_ pretty dangerous.

"Son of Bacchus, Kool-Aid has that effect on him," Gwendolyn explained before motioning for us to follow her.

We followed her to the barracks outside.

"Each cohort has four barracks, each one having ten bunks. You two will be in the last one over there, Frank and Hazel will get you settled in before the feast and game tonight," Gwendolyn said before walking off with Dakota.

Percy and I followed Hazel and Frank to one of the barracks.

It looked like a standard barrack, standing double my height from the looks of it. It had typical Roman designs and all the bunks were well made. Nothing was out a place, every sheet and shirt was tucked away seamlessly.

"Here's your bunk," Hazel stated, gesturing to one before climbing onto the top, "I hope you don't mind sharing with me."

I looked over and saw Percy and Frank talking across the barrack, so I decided to ask her a question while they weren't listening.

"Thanks... so, you and Frank, huh?" I questioned, leaning against the ladder.

It was a metal bunk bed, it had a comfy-looking mattress with a purple blanket and a white pillow. The sheeting was white and appeared to be ironed recently. I didn't see any traces of hair, so I assumed it hadn't been used before, but it must've been kept clean because there was no dust either.

She turned mildly pink, fanning herself before shaking her head. "What? N-no, Frank's just a friend."

"Uh-huh, sure." I winked at her before giggling.

"What about you and Percy?"

I rolled my eyes. "As if, he's... he's not my type."

She raised her eyebrow. "I believe you hesitated."

"And I'm sure you stuttered when you were talking about Frank."

Her face flushed as she turned away. "F-fine, but if you like him, you should tell him."

"Same goes for you. Frank seems like a really nice guy," I pointed out.

I looked over to Frank and Percy, the first dropping something clumsily and looking nervous. Percy just laughed and helped him.

I smiled a bit before lying on the bed, avoiding my bad shoulder because it kind of hurt when I laid on it.

* * *

"So when you become a legionnaire, you get a tattoo with your godly parent's symbol and the letters SPQR?" I asked Hazel as I fixed my temporary armour.

We had just finished a feast and now we were having a war game called Siege, but it was basically Capture the Flag. Our job was to storm the fortress with our cohort, the fourth, and the third. The defending was the first and second, and Reyna served as a referee.

"Yep," she replied before Gwendolyn ordered us to pay attention.

"So we're gonna be sent in first!" Gwendolyn exclaimed, trying to sound optimistic.

Since we were the worst, we became the automatic scapegoat of the game.

She began ordering around, the majority of us being sent to attack the front.

"What about us?" I asked, gesturing to Percy, Frank, Hazel, and I.

"Uh... you guys do whatever." She dismissively waved us off before a conch sounded to start the game.

Her group went to the front, trying to find a way through that way.

I eyed the fortress, which stood at least fifty feet tall with all sorts of defence. Water cannons, ballistae, the works. Hazel said they built new ones every game, so the wreckage of old ones were littered around the Field of Mars we were in.

"Hey, Hazel, did you ever build tunnels for the war games?" I inquired.

"Um, a couple, why?"

Percy's eyes lit up, understanding what I was getting at. "Where do they lead?"

"Wait you wanna go underground and break into the fortress?" Frank questioned.

"Uh, yeah, some of them do go right under the fortress," Hazel replied.

"Well, enough waiting around. Let's go!" I ran towards the side, away from the main fray before stopping. "Uh, where were they?"

Hazel caught up to me and started leading the way for us. We looped around all structures as battle cries were heard from the main fortress, and maybe an elephant cry from the sounds of it.

"There!" She pointed to a dark tunnel up ahead.

I used my powers to mentally navigate underneath it, feeling the twists and turns of it. I could vaguely feel other people's presence, but they mostly seem to be just playing cards or drinking pop. Then, from above them, I could feel the main fortress.

"Yep, that's it."

Frank ran in first followed my Hazel, Percy, then me. We ran down the dark tunnel, a scarced amount of torches lighting the way.

Eventually, we came across a few people playing cards, arguing who had more points.

"Ahem?"

They all turned to us before I summoned the shadows from around the room. Then I encased their bodies in shadows and throwing them against the walls before they could even fight back.

We continued on, Hazel and Frank shocked by my powers. However, they haven't seen anything yet.

Frank was the first to get on top of the fortress and signalled for our team to strike. After getting over their initial shock of us _actually _getting onto the fortress, our whole team went in, all three cohorts working together with an elephant.

Yes, an elephant. Camp Jupiter has an elephant named Hannibal. I don't even wanna know why.

Percy blew up all the water cannons, reversing the pressure inside them to blow up in their handlers' faces. Frank shot arrows in non-lethal spots to get the opposing team away as he ran towards their banner. Hazel and I squared off against any that tried to pass us.

A few moments later, I heard cheering from over the wall and saw Frank hold up the opposite team's banner proudly. Then we all went back down to the ground to celebrate.

"That was amazing!" Hazel exclaimed, looking at Percy and I.

We glanced at each other before shrugging.

I looked over her shoulder and saw a crowd forming somewhere when I heard faint buzzing in my ears. I didn't know what it meant, but I knew it meant something bad.

I ran over to the crowd, pushing passed some people before gasping in shock. The crowd had formed around Gwendolyn, who had a pilum speared straight through her chest. Two medics were desperately trying to help her, but I could feel her life slowly leaving her before she died.

"Who killed her?" I snapped, looking around at the onlookers.

Frank looked closer at the pilum, reading something off the side. "This belonged to the First Cohort. Whoever did this is missing theirs."

Reyna pushed forward through the crowd, a serious expression on her face. "They'll be an investigation for this. We'll find out who killed her."

"Octavian's missing his pilum," Percy pointed out, glaring at the blond.

"Hm... must've dropped it during battle." Octavian shrugged nonchalantly.

I felt something, a surge of life, then Gwendolyn came back to life. She looked around, confused at why everyone was looking at her.

"Uh, Gwen." Frank pointed to her chest.

Gwendolyn looked down just as Frank carefully pulled the weapon out of her, discarding it to the side. Oddly enough, the gaping hole in her started to heal itself, leaving only a patch of her shirt missing.

"What happened?" Hazel inquired.

"Um, I appeared by this river. This guy was asking for coins, and I didn't have any so I just left. There was this big exit sign so I walked through it and came back here," she explained, confusion written on her face.

"Wait, how can you just come back to life? No one's supposed to be able to unless my father let you," I stated, "no offence though, it's great that you're not, like, dead anymore."

Before she could reply, there was a flash of red flames a couple of feet from us, and a figure appeared. Everyone immediately bowed down except for Percy, Frank, and I.

The figure wore a green camo suit, something the military would wear. He had black shades covering his eye and grenades strapped across his chest, some weapons at his waist as well.

"Ah! Lord Mars! How-" Octavian began before being shushed by the god.

"I'm here by official orders of Jupiter. Also, I'm here to claim my son, Frank."

A glowing red spear appeared above Frank's head while he stared back in shock.

"Your Ares, I think I fought you before," Percy stated, staring at the god, wide-eyed.

The god tipped his black sunglasses down, revealing his eyes to be flames. "I'm _Mars_, and even if we did fight, you're lucky you're alive. Anyway, I'm here to send my son off on a quest. The god Thanatos is been held in Alaska, the land beyond the gods, blah, blah, blah. You go there and bring those two with, they need to learn to respect me." He pointed to Percy and I.

Did we- did we offend the god of war? Okay, I'm just gonna blame Percy because I don't remember it and it seems like something he's stupid enough to do.

Percy is smart, yeah, but he's also quite impulsive too. I wouldn't put it beneath him to _attack_ a god.

"Uh... Lord Mars, all quests must be issued with a prophecy. Let me get some bears and I can-" Octavian began.

"No, I can make one." A piece of paper appeared in his hand with a pen. He scribbled something down before handing it to his son.

"'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die'," Frank read out loud with a look of dread on his face.

"Uh- m'lord, prophecy's are suppose-"

Mars cast one firey look at Octavian, which shut him up immediately.

"Yep, that works. T-thanks Lord Mars."

With a flash of fire, the god was gone once more.

** (A/N: Sorry if I miss any parts in this story arc. I can't find my copy of Son of Neptune so I have to use the wiki for reference if I miss anything. Thanks for understanding! Also sorry that this seemed a bit rushed near the end.)**


	27. I'm nearly kidnapped

**(A/N: If you saw my announcement on Wattpad or Instagram, you'll know I'll be dropping the updates down on this story. I'll be alternating between posting this one week, and posting Two Sides the next week, or something along those lines. Thank you for understanding and enjoy this chapter! Sorry this is late and remember to stay healthy and safe!)**

Reyna ordered everyone to return to their barracks after Ares- uh, _Mars_' arrival. She informed us, aka Percy, Frank, and I, that we must meet in the senate the next day to determine what will happen with this quest.

The next morning, we took off to New Rome, which was where the senate was located. We were guided by Hazel, who knew the place better than the rest of us.

Not long after, we arrived in New Rome, and I gotta say, it was amazing. The architecture was stunning, spiralling columns and pillars made of stone. Adults and small children bustling around, talking to each other from shops and houses. There were also some satyrs asking for money, but no one bothered to give any. As well, there were these weird, almost transparent creatures running around.

"What are those?" Percy inquired.

"Lares, they're kinda like guardians for Camp Jupiter, just watch out for them. They can't really hurt you, but you'll get vertigo if they run through you," Hazel warned.

I was about to step into New Rome when a statue- yes a statue- appeared in front of us. It had a head and chest, but nothing else.

"Halt! No weapons across the Pomeranian Line!" the statue exclaimed, "Julia! The tray!"

Nothing happened.

"Julia!"

A giggle came from being the statue, revealing a little girl with blonde hair in pigtails holding a tray.

"Hi Julia," Hazel greeted, dropping her sword on the large tray.

The statue looked at us pointedly. "Well?"

"You're a statue. You're talking," Percy pointed out as Frank dropped his into the tray.

"And you're not that bright either. I am Terminus, the god of boundaries, and you cannot enter the Pomeranian Line with weapons," he proclaimed.

"What if I have powers? Wouldn't that mean my body is a weapon? Does that mean _I_ can't enter?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"I mean your _physical_ weapons!"

"I am physical."

"Guys, just drop your weapons onto the tray," Hazel insisted.

I reluctantly took off my rings and dropped it on the tray while Percy fished around in his pockets before placing his pen on the tray. We then walked through.

We continued walking through the streets, some lares giving us dirty looks and muttering things I couldn't hear as we passed by.

"Is it just me or do the lares don't like us?" I inquired to no one in particular.

"That's odd, they don't usually bother _anyone_," Hazel remarked, glancing at us before walking us into the Senate House.

The Senate House was this pretty big building with a domed roof. It had rows upon rows like college lecture halls and a podium in the front. Everything seemed to be made of white stone, and all the senators inside wore white togas and the camp shirt.

Reyna and Octavian stood in the front on the podium, addressing the senate and appearing to have just ended an argument as we entered.

"Ah, the three _Probatios_ have finally arrived with Hazel," Octavian remarked.

Hazel led us to a couple of seats in the front row before we sat down and faced Reyna and Octavian.

"The quest has been issued by _Mars Ultor_, patron of Rome, Frank and the others _must_ complete the quest," Reyna stated, her tone saying that decision was final.

Octavian grumbled something before motioning Frank forward. He took Frank's Probatio tablet before holding his hand above Frank's arm. His hand glowed faintly as an image of two spears crossed, a line, and the letters SPQR appeared on Frank's arm.

"You're now officially a legionnaire," Octavian stated with a sarcastic tone.

Frank nodded uncomfortably before sitting down beside Hazel on the end of the bench.

"So how would we travel to Alaska?" I inquired.

"Well, we have many aircrafts-" Reyna began.

"Um, no offence but I don't think I can go in the air, same goes for Arina I think," Percy stated.

"Why not?" She had this mildly irritated look from Percy interrupting her, but she quickly hid it.

"I don't know, gut feeling?" He shrugged in response.

"Isn't their a feud between Neptune and Jupiter or something? Like we can't enter his territory without getting blasted out of the sky?" I questioned.

I vaguely recall someone mentioning that before, but I didn't know where. For some reason, I feel like it came from a horse. Or maybe a man?

"Okay, then what are you safe to travel in?" Reyna questioned.

"Boat," Percy said.

"Shadows," I said at the same time instead.

Percy raised his eyebrow at me. "You're recovering from getting bit by a poisonous snake; I don't think shadow travelling is a safe idea-"

"Oh shut up, and it's _venomous_, Barnacle Boy." I flicked him on the forehead before leaning back in my seat.

"_Ahem_," Octavian cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at me.

"We only have one boat in our navy, Pax, you are permitted to use it," Reyna stated, "you three shall embark immediately."

"Uh, Reyna, can Hazel come as well? She does have seniority over us," Frank suggested.

Octavian looked ready to argue, but Reyna quickly dismissed him.

"There's gonna be someone waiting for us in Alaska no doubt," Hazel pointed out.

"Who would be guarding the god of death?" I inquired.

"Alcyoneus, he's from-" Hazel began before Octavian cut her off.

"How'd you know this?" he asked, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

"Alcyoneus is the bane of our father, Pluto. Who would be more fitting to watch the god of death than the bane of the Underworld?" Nico questioned.

He was sitting with his hands stuffed into his aviator jacket on the seats from across us, a solemn look on his face.

The meeting was adjourned after we came to an agreement on how the quest was going to work. I was then sent to the Pomeranian Line by the others to grab our weapons before meeting them down by the pier.

"I'm not going back into New Rome," I insisted to a disbelieving Terminus, "and can't you sense me bringing it back in?"

He sighed. "Fine, Julia! The tray!"

Once more, Julia didn't answer.

"JULI- go behind me and grab her," Terminus ordered me.

I reluctantly peered behind him, finding the tray of weapons lying on the ground instead. "Uh, she isn't here."

"What! Uh- she is supposed to be helping me."

"Well, you're a god, aren't you? Can't you like telepathically find her or something?" I suggested, picking up my friends' weapons and my own.

I managed to get a bag from Hazel to hold all the weapons. Well, it ain't easy carrying a pen, a bow, arrows, and a gladius. It's good I can wear my rings in my opinion.

"JULIA!" Terminus yelled, flying up into the air.

Okay, he can fly. He's a bust that can fly- totally normal. Well, to be honest, that didn't faze me as much as I thought it would.

I looked over and saw two sets of eyes hiding behind a bush not too far from the line. One was higher up in the bushes by about a couple inches above the other one. The higher one had blue eyes while the lower one had brown ones.

I rolled my eyes, walking up to the bush casually.

"Hm, I'm bored, wouldn't it be a great idea to, I don't know, attack this bush?" I asked allowed before summoning a shadow ball.

A voice squealed from behind the bushes, Julia jumping out and giggling. "Don't shoot me! Shoot Dennis instead!" She then ran away, giggling.

_Dennis_... _why does that sound so familiar?_ I felt an odd tingle course through my body, something that I vaguely recalled began emerging in the back of my mind.

Another kid clambered out of the bush- the same one from yesterday who helped Quilo with the ambrosia and nectar.

I stared at him while he brushed off some leaves, then, something clicked.

"Dennis?"

He looked up at me, his eyes widening. "No way... Arina? Wait- how-"

I felt an onslaught of memories hit me; all of them relating to my little brother. Taking him to school, feeding him, basically raising him up until he went missing one day seven years ago...

"Y-you're a demigod too?" he finally managed to say.

I quickly pulled him into a hug, unable to think of anything else to do. "W-what happened to _you_?" I pushed him away and looked him up and down.

He obviously grew, he was only like five inches shorter than me. He also lost most of his baby fat, but that last time I saw him, he was only five-years-old.

By now you're probably wondering how the Hades I remembered my brother but nothing else, right? Well, I honestly have no clue. Maybe it's like how Percy remembers the name 'Annabeth'? Like the memory of my brother is too strong to destroy?

"Uh... I was brought to camp?"

I whacked him on the head. "What happened at the fucking park," I rephrased.

"Okay, okay... um, I followed a wolf-"

"Why the fucking Hades did you follow a wolf? What did I tell you about following strangers?" I exclaimed.

"It was a wolf!"

"Still a living thing that could kidnap you- and it did."

"Okay, fine, I was _five_ for gods' sake! Anyway, I was brought to the Wolf House and trained there before I made my way here," he explained quickly before showing me his forearm.

His forearm had six black lines for his years of service. Above that was the letters 'SPQR' and a chalice symbol.

"You're... you're a son of Dionysus?"

"Uh, Bacchus, but yeah."

Wait... why does that sound so _familiar_?

I turned, seeing Percy yell and wave at me from farther away with Reyna, Hazel, and Frank beside him.

"I have to go but, once I get back, we _need_ to talk about this, alright?" I questioned before running towards the others, waving goodbye to him.

"Yeah!" he replied, worry in his eyes.

The others didn't question me, thank gods, so we continued on down to the pier after I gave the others their respective weapons.

Reyna took us down to the pier where the boat was. Actually, I should probably say tiny, little, wooden thing. That was it. That was the mighty Romans' navy; a godsdamn rowboat.

I pulled the tarp off of the boat, revealing a sad-looking wooden rowboat. When I mean sad, I'm serious, it had eyes painted on it that looked like it was crying. The name 'Pax' was also messily scrawled on the side.

"This is a joke, right?" Frank turned to Reyna, who stood on the dock.

"Romans fear travelling by sea, we prefer aerial and land attacks. However, travelling on land is risky with the monsters and Percy and Arina have expressed their high mortality rate when flying," she responded.

"Anything else we should know?" I crossed my arms, looking at the boat.

"On your way to Alaska, stop by Seattle and go to the Amazon's headquarters. Request to speak to my sister, Hylla. She may be able to help us in the coming battle," she advised before turning and walking away, her cape fanning out behind her.

According to Percy, he informed her the other day about how there would be an attack on the camp. We would definitely need reinforcements if we can't free Thanatos in time, and I'm assuming that's why we would need to contact her sister.

"Well, at least it's floating," I pointed out optimistically after she left.

"Barely," Percy remarked, clambering in first.

Frank and Hazel followed after before I slipped in, literally. I almost tipped the boat if it weren't for Percy grabbing me and steadying the water.

"I'm fine," I said, moving to sit in the middle of the boat because there weren't any more seats.

Percy sat at the back of the rowboat while Hazel and Frank sat beside each other in the front.

"Um, quick question, where are the oars?" I inquired, looking around.

Hazel and Frank both looked under their seats and shrugged.

"It's fine, I got this." Percy waved his hand and we were pushed forward by a small wave.

We sat uncomfortably in silence as Percy propelled us, the only sound being the water crashing against the bow and an occasional animal that greeted Percy and screamed in horror at me.

"Ugh, why do they hate me?" I groaned, leaning against the side of the boat, making it rock gently.

"Uh, Arina, you should be careful," Frank warned.

"They don't hate you, they're just terrified of you. I think it's funny they're scared of you, anyway," Percy remarked.

"Y'know, if you weren' the son of a sea god and driving the boat, I would push you out of this," I replied coolly.

"Damn, harsh much?" He turned back to the water, smirking.

I turned back forward and caught Frank and Hazel glance at each other before looking at me.

"Uh, so how long have you known Percy?" Frank asked awkwardly.

"Um... I guess since April? Maybe we've met before or something?" I guessed with a shrug.

"So you don't remember anything at all before?" Hazel inquired.

"Basically," Percy answered.

"Well, if you guys were on your own for this long you guys must be pretty powerful," Frank stated with a sigh.

"I don't think I was on my own, but I don't remember exactly," I responded, "it also could be just damn luck."

"Being a half-blood ain't easy, that's for sure," Percy said.

Frank looked uneasy, nodding in agreement and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Unfortunately, Hazel passed out then, causing the rest of us to freak out.

"Is she alright?" I inquired while Frank helped her up.

She had just fallen to the base of the boat, thank gods. She was breathing from what I could tell and definitely wasn't in any life-threatening danger.

"Is this normal for her?" Percy questioned.

"Um... I don't know," Frank answered.

Hazel groaned, her eyes fluttering open and looking around at us just as Frank helped her into a sitting position.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"Um... I blacked out again, didn't I?"

"What do you mean, _again_?" Percy inquired.

"Um... it's a long story," she stated.

"Well, we are travelling up to the Pacific Northwest, aren't we? We have time for a story, I'm sure," I said.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, our boat hit the shoreline.

The shore went from gravel-like sand to knee-high grass. There was some rustling in the field, either from the wind or some animal. There were also some rocks lining here and there as well.

Something unsettled me about the grass. I knew it was probably paranoia or my eyes playing tricks on me, but I could've sworn I saw something move in the grass.

"Is there a monster?" Percy questioned.

"Not... not that I can tell, but not all monsters reside in the Underworld," I pointed out, summoning my blades and stepping onto the shore uneasily.

"Uh, should we be stopping? What if this is a trap?" Frank asked.

"It's not gonna hurt to investi-" I stopped halfway through when I caught the scent. I smelled a strong monster scent, a disgusting one to boot.

Naturally, I went straight into the grass without the others.

I used my powers over the shadows to feel around me for any monsters, but nothing came up. I kept on doing it as the grass grew higher and higher until it almost went over my head.

"Arina! What the Hades with running off?"

I spun around, knocking whoever behind me onto the ground and kneeling on them with my blades at their neck.

Turns out, it was just Percy.

"Oh, sorry." I got off of him before offering him my hand. I easily pulled him up after, glancing around for the others or any monsters.

"Um, ow, and you still haven't answered my question."

"I smelled something."

"Uh, what?"

"A monster, duh."

He rolled his eyes before the grass to our left started to shake. He uncapped his pen and held out his sword, eyeing the grass.

A weird creature popped out, somewhat green and looking like an ugly baby. It had odd specks all over its body and a sinister look on its face, looking poised to kill us.

"Ah! Demigods," it spat, its voice high and annoying.

"What the Hades are you?" I questioned before two more popped beside it.

"We are karpoi! Grain spirits!" the one on the left exclaimed.

"Gaea will take over and kill you!" the one on the right squealed.

"Wait, what?"

"Our mistress wants you though."

Something grabbed me by the ankle and slammed me face-first into the ground before pulling me backwards.

I dropped my blades as I tried to grab something to hold onto, but the more I struggled the faster the thing pulled.

I was thrown into the air, my back hitting something hard followed by my head. My vision blurred as I heard whispering around me.

"Ah... the perfect champion for my army," someone said, their voice cracking and sounding oddly distant.

I blinked a couple of times, refocusing on a group of karpoi tying me up and a figure in the dirt. Their face melted into the ground- maybe it was the ground. Something about it looked familiar. As well, I could feel some all-powerful energy coming off of them, maybe even stronger than a god.

"Who... who are you?" I managed to say, trying to wiggle free from the ropes of grass the karpoi tied my up in, "what army?"

"Hm... you were quite a valuable asset according to my son before his untimely death," the voice remarked.

"Asset? Who was your son?"

Was I working for someone before I came to camp? Gods, I hate having no memories.

"Enough talk, karpoi, finish tying her up before handing her off to Ma Gasket," the voice ordered.

The face shifted back into dirt as the karpoi picked me up.

"Hey! Let me go you stupid weeds!" I tried breaking free from the binds, but they were surprisingly strong for grass.

"Never!" one by my shoulder exclaimed.

"If I could kill you right now- I would," I spat in its face, resulting in me getting whacked in the face by grass.

I looked around, trying to figure out if I could use my powers to get out of the ropes.

_I could shadow travel, but I don't know where to go. Maybe the boat? Is it dark enough for me to pop out of there? Where else would be a safe place for me to go?_ I bit my lip, thinking.

Next thing I know, I'm flung into the air again. I landed on my back, hitting my head _again_ on some dirt.

"Arina! Are you okay?" Hazel asked, appearing above me and helping me up into a sitting position.

My whole body was bound, legs, arms, chest, the only thing that was free was my head. She easily sliced through the ropes, much to my surprise.

"Y-yeah, where were you guys?" I questioned.

I wiggled free from the ropes, rubbing my wrist, which turned red from the bounds.

"Hazel got kidnapped by some karpoi too," Frank elaborated.

"They tied you up?"

"No, I used some schist to stop them from grabbing me," she answered.

"What?"

"Schist, the stone," Percy stated.

I nodded, pushing myself into a standing position and stretching, my joints popping and cracking as I did so.

"So Hazel and I were nearly kidnapped by something," I summarized.

"Gaea, to be exact," Percy said.

"Isn't she the primordial of the earth?" Frank inquired.

"Mother of the first generation Titans, Elder Cyclopes, and the Hekatonkheires," I added.

Wait, how'd I know that?

Hazel and Frank gave me an odd look.

"Uh... so what now?" I asked, trying to divert attention away from me.

"The karpoi mentioned someone was here to pick Hazel and you up, so I say we should find them and see what else they're up to," Percy suggested, looking at Frank.

"Uh, sure," he agreed.

"One question: where do we go?"

Percy was about to say something when we heard yelling and pounding noises.

I peered over the wall of grass and saw three cyclopes trying to enter a shop. However, there was some sort of rainbow-coloured force field blocking it that burned them.

"Ah! Forget this! We must continue on!" the tallest of them exclaimed.

"I want Ding-Dong!" one of them whined, his voice more masculine than the first.

Something flew out from the force field, a small package, hitting the cyclops in the face.

He looked at it, making a face of disgust. "This is healthy!"

Several more creatures appeared. Monsters that were our height, but there was this one creature that was ginormous.

He- I think it was a he- was a least thirty feet tall and somewhat resembled a human being. Well, except for the fact he had green hair with basilisks hanging in it, scaly legs, and blue skin. The way the other monsters looked at him showed he was obviously the leader, either by choice or force.

"We don't have time to deal with minor gods, we must continue on to Camp Jupiter," the giant blue guy said before turning and marching the army away.

However, before he left, three of the basilisks jumped off his hair and stood around the shop, sniffing the air and hissing.

"Wait, there are gods, or at least _a_ god in there, right? Maybe we could stop in there," Hazel offered.

"Yeah, but what about the basilisks?" I questioned, looking down and seeing my rings had returned.

"We could sneak around them," Frank suggested.

"Or you could use your powers," Percy pointed out.

"Ugh, fine," I grumbled before crouching down and creeping towards the monsters.

_Go away_, I ordered mentally.

_Who said that?_ the one on the left questioned, looking around and hissing.

The snake-like creatures had pale, yellow eyes and a green body. They had these white spikes around their neck as well that flared out a bit when they opened their mouths too. They hissed smoke, so it's safe to assume they also breathe fire as well.

_Gaea has ordered me to tell you to leave..._ I replied.

_We serve Polybotes and only Polybotes. We do not speak to Gaea!_ the one on the right declared, spitting out fire to my left, nearly scorching me.

"Guys! Run!" I yelled shadow travelling to the front of the store and pushing the door open.

A glance behind me told me my friends were trying to follow, managing to dodge the monster with Hazel's help. She somehow summoned some rocks and hit the creatures with it before running into the store.

"Need anything?"

"Ah!" Frank jumped, running into a Neptune fountain.

We all turned to the new person- or well nymph, but still.

She had hair that was made of literal clouds and a yellow shirt with the phrase 'ROFL' on it. Her eyes were quite unique though. They kept on shifting from black, to grey, to white like a storm. She seemed fairly muscular as well, so no doubt she could put up a fright.

"Oh, sorry about that, I'm Fleecy, a nebulae," the nymph introduced, clapping her hands and making the wrecked fountain disappear.

"You're a cloud nymph," Percy stated, seeming shocked and oddly frazzled.

"Ooh, I like this one. Most people don't know what cloud nymphs are," the nymph said.

"Percy, are you okay? You don't look so good," I pointed out.

Hazel and I grabbed his arms just in time as he stumbled backwards, almost falling.

Another person entered the room. She had olive-coloured skin, black hair, and brown eyes. She wore a tie-dye t-shirt and seemed quite laid-back, but I could tell she was hiding something.

"Ah, Fleecy, we have customers now?" the lady said.

"Well, two amnesiacs and two other guys who are... somewhat fine from what I could tell," I corrected her.

"Ah, Arina, nice to formally meet you," she said, smiling at me.

Okay, that unsettled me.

"Um... do I know you?"

"Well, most demigods do. I'm-"

"Y-you're Arcus," Hazel gasped.

"You're Iris?" I questioned.

"Hm... well that's my Greek name."

"Wait, can you help me send an Iris-Message then?" I inquired.

She looked confused for a second before nodding. "Iris-Messages are more of a Greek thing, but I can help you with that. Fleecy, bring Arina, Percy, and Hazel to the back, I'll like to have a word in private with Frank."

Fleecy nodded, motioning for us to follow her.

As we walked further into the store, I started looking around and noticed the place was filled with tons of healthy and hippie stuff. Organic, low-fat foods, wind chimes, glass prisms, the works. It seemed like the perfect place for a nature obsessed satyr.

"You guys can sit Percy over there, I'm gonna be right back with the medicine," Fleecy said before slipping out of the back door.

We moved Percy over to a couch quickly.

"You think this is safe?" I asked Hazel.

"Well, she's a goddess, isn't she?"

"Not all gods and goddesses are fateful towards the Olympians though." I tensed when I said that. I could feel a memory trying to wiggle free in the back of my mind, something related to that, but it didn't succeed.

Fleecy came back and gave Percy this drink in a small glass bottle, also handing me one.

"Um... I'm fine." I held the bottom apprehensively.

"Well, Iris told me to give it to you too anyway. It was requested by someone else," she answered.

Yeah, like that made me feel any better.

"Who?"

Fleecy shrugged. "She won't tell me."

"Um, I'm gonna go check on Frank, I'll be right back," Hazel stated before slipping out of the room.

Fleecy nodded, following her out of the room and leaving Percy and I alone.

"Uh, well, guess we're gonna drink this then?" Percy questioned uneasily.

"Well, what's the worst that could happen? It makes use grow another limb?" I joked.

"Yes," he replied in a serious tone.

"Well, then we have another limb to fight with. If we lose one of ours, we still have four, right?"

"That is the worse logic I ever heard."

"Shut up and just drink the medicine, Barnacle Boy."

He shrugged, uncapping the bottle and downing the liquid, making a weird face after.

I twisted the cap off of mine, staring into the crimson liquid. I tipped the drink into my mouth, swallowing while wincing from the bitter taste.

"Why can't medicine taste, I don't know, good? Like chocolate chip cookies."

"Or Piña colada."

"Isn't that alcohol?"

"Your point?"

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Never mind."

"Heh, so you're feeling better I guess?"

"Yeah... I don't know what happened though. Seeing those cyclopes... it reminded me of something but..." He ran his hand through his hair, thinking.

I turned away from him, trying not to blush.

He's cute, totally, but he might have a girlfriend. I don't want to get in between them... right? Gods, I hate having amnesia. What if his girlfriend is like my sister or something? That'll be awful if I made a move on him, right? Oh gods, what if we were like siblings or something? Like our mother got Poseidon _and_ Hades to have a child with her. That'll be worse, definitely worse.

Wait, Percy and I are probably the same age so it wouldn't _be_ possible for us to be siblings, right? Well, it still doesn't mean I can make a move on him, right?

"Uh, you alright?" he inquired, making me jump because I was so deep in thought.

"Uh, yeah, totally, just uh, thinking," I replied nervously.

"Right..." He looked like he knew I was hiding something, but he didn't press further. "Didn't you say we need to make an Iris-Message? Who did you have in mind?"

"Reyna, she needs to know about the approaching army," I stated.

"They already know the camp's gonna be attacked."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know _what's_ attacking, right? Like that big, blue guy seems kinda important. Those basilisks say they served Polybotes or whatever," I pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe she knows who he is," Percy agreed.

We walked out of the room together, seeing Frank and Hazel walk back inside. They were both looking awkward and blushing slightly, so I could tell something happened between them. As well, I could smell something like death.

"Why were you guys outside?" Percy questioned.

"Frank killed the basilisks!" Hazel exclaimed, grinning.

"Well, I uh, didn't, Gray did," Frank corrected.

I blinked. "Who's Gray?"

"My dad gave me this spear last night. He told me to strike it into the ground if I ever need help, or before I learned 'the family gift'. He says I can only use it three times though. Gray's the skeleton that comes out of the ground," Frank explained.

"Well, that explains the smell," I remarked, crossing my arms.

Frank looked mildly offended, which made Percy and I laugh.

"She can smell death, don't worry dude, you don't stink," Percy reassured.

Frank nodded, turning slightly red.

"Um, where's Fleecy? She said she'll-" I began.

"Here!" Fleecy appeared behind the counter of the shop, making Frank, Hazel, and I jump while Percy remained eerily relaxed.

"Fleecy, can you help us make an Iris-Message?" I inquired.

"Sure, come with me," she replied, walking towards a fountain. She snapped her fingers and a rainbow appeared above it. "Just say, 'O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show' and then say their name." She held out a small pile of coins for us.

"Do you mind if I try calling someone else first?" Percy asked me.

"Yeah, go ahead," I replied, picking up the drachmas and looking at them.

Percy threw a coin into the rainbow before saying, "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me... Annabeth?" He looked uneasy when he said this.

The rainbow shimmered, fuzzing in and out before disappearing.

"Huh, how odd," Fleecy remarked.

"He can't message her?" I questioned.

"Well, it's kinda like you're trying to call someone without their number, or maybe someone's blocking the connection," Fleecy explained.

"Maybe it was the person who wiped our memories," I suggested.

"Uh, well, let's just call Reyna," Percy stated, moving aside for me.

"O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Reyna, Camp Jupiter," I said.

The rainbow shimmered before showing Reyna sitting in a bathtub. Instinctively, I covered Percy's eyes while Frank turned away, blushing, and Hazel just looked at the ground.

Reyna glanced over. Once she saw us, she grabbed her towel and covered her chest, looking shocked to see us.

"Uh, sorry Reyna, should we call you back when you're... um... not in the bath?" I questioned awkwardly, struggling to cover Percy's eyes still because of how short I was.

I am physically short, and so are my arms.

She sighed, looking down into the bubbles of the water. "Make it quick."

"Um, an army is marching towards Camp Jupiter as we speak with several northern cyclopes," Hazel began.

"They're being led by someone called Polybotes," I added.

She raised her eyebrows. "Hm... I'll inform the senate as soon as possible. If it is truly the Polybotes I know, we _need_ the reinforcements of the Amazons."

"Who's Polybotes?" Percy asked.

"He is one of Gaea's children, he's a Giant and the bane of Neptune. He can only be killed with the combined force of a god and demigod," she stated.

"Okay, well, that's great to know," I said sarcastically, "we're gonna go to Seattle as soon as possible."

"Good, well, if you don't mind, I'll like to return to my bath in private."

I nodded, swiping through the rainbow and removing my hand from Percy's face.

"I wouldn't have looked, just saying," Percy stated.

"Yeah, well, that would've been nice to know before."

"Geez, I'm not _that_ type of guy!"

"You walked in on me taking a shower!"

"I didn't see anything!"

"You saw my tattoo!"

"Uh, hate to interrupt this but, we should get going to Seattle," Frank pointed out.

"Fine," I sighed, crossing my arms.

Earlier, maybe around mid-May, I was just minding my own business, taking a shower in a nearby waterfall because well, there's no centralized water units in the woods where we were training. Don't worry, Percy had purified the water beforehand.

Anyway, I was just minding my own business when Percy walked by, not knowing I was in the waterfall. I don't think he saw my whole body because I was mainly hiding underneath the waterfall just in case anyone else came by like in that old myth about Artemis and the hunter.

Long story short, the hunter was killed by his hunting dogs after Artemis turned him into a deer for seeing her naked. Serves him right though, like, do you _have_ a death wish? Why would any sane man look at a goddess bathe? Especially one that loathes men.

Anyhow, back to my story, once we saw each other, he ran while I shot shadows at him. He did, however, see my tattoo.

I have a tattoo, don't ask me where I got it cause I don't know, on my left shoulder. It resembled Hades and Nemesis' planetary symbols, but I don't know why.

"Wait, before you go, I recommend you go to Portland first," Iris advised, appearing in the room, "if you want to get your answers, Frank, seek out Phineas. However, do not harm my sisters."

"Who are your sisters?" Percy inquired.

"The harpies," she replied before handing him a tie-dye bag, "here are some provisions for the journey. Good luck, heroes."

We said our thanks before slipping out, walking through the field before stepping into our boat, which was surprisingly still there.

* * *

Percy eventually fell asleep, so he got a whale to push us the rest of the way to Portland on the condition he didn't feed it macrobiotic beef jerky.

As we sat in the boat, I tried to get to know Hazel and Frank better.

"Have you met Pluto before? Like before you came to camp?" Hazel asked me.

"Um... maybe? Like, having no memories of my past does leave _some_ blanks," I stated.

"That reminds me, does Dennis know you?" Frank inquired, "we saw you guys talking so..."

I sighed, leaning back against the side of the boat. "Uh... yeah... turns out, he's my brother."

"What?" they both exclaimed in unison.

"I didn't realize until I saw him and actually _thought_ about how we knew each other, well, if that makes any sense."

"According to Quilo, he came to camp like six years ago. Lots of people were surprised he made it to camp though, he just kept on wanting to go back home. Eventually, he got a recommendation letter from Diana though and was accepted into the Fourth," Hazel explained.

Why would Artemis give a recommendation letter for my brother? Like, he's a male, and I don't think we had any connection with her, do we?

"Oh... cool..." I nodded, absentmindedly playing with the hem of my t-shirt. "What were you referring to when you said your 'family gift' or whatever?"

"Um..." Frank rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Lord Mar- uh, I mean my dad said I had a special family gift. He gave me the spear though because I haven't learned what it is though..."

"You have any idea what it could be?" Hazel inquired.

"Nope, unless lactose-intolerant counts," he joked, making her laugh.

_Yep, they _definitely_ like each other. Hm... how can I get one of them to admit it?_

"Well, you guys mind keeping watch? I want to get some sleep."

"Um, sure, go ahead," Frank stated.

I winked at Hazel and mouthed 'do it' before resting my head on the side of the boat and shutting my eyes.

_(Dreams)_

_ I appeared in a camp similar to Camp Jupiter, but all the campers seemed more laid-back and less militaristic. Well, except for these kids near a cabin with a boar head at the front._

_ "Leo, stop setting stuff on fire, we need to head to the counsellors meeting," a girl with choppy, brown hair said, putting her hands on her hips and looking at another guy._

_ The girl was somewhat average height. She had kaleidoscope-coloured eyes and slightly darker skin, most likely being Native American. She had an orange t-shirt like lots of other kids at the camp but didn't seem to have a leather necklace like the others._

Wait... those necklaces look like mine!_ I realized._

_ The other guy, Leo, I presumed, looked Latino and likely up to something with the mischievous glint in his eyes. He had a tool belt around his waist on the outside of some oily overalls. He had curly black hair and dark brown eyes as well._

Oh my gods, he's kinda hot_, I didn't know if it was possible to blush or not in- well, where ever I was- but if I could, I probably will. Like, he was _really_ cute._

_ "Don't worry Beauty Queen, we're not gonna be late," he reassured her._

_ "Annabeth might kill us," 'Beauty Queen' pointed out._

_ "Yeah maybe we should get there quicker," he replied, racing her towards a big building up ahead._

_ It was about two or three storeys tall and had a wrap-around porch. It was coloured sky blue and had several demigods entering it, chatting._

_ "Hey Pipes," a blond guy greeted, coming up to the girl and kissing the girl on the forehead._

_ "Hey Jason, did the meeting start yet?" she questioned._

_ "Nope, but Annabeth's getting... worried. She's kinda worried about Percy forgetting her and dating a new girl," the blond, Jason, stated._

_ Jason was a half a foot taller than the girl. He had blond hair, sky blue eyes, and a faint scar on his lower lip. He also had markings on his arm, but I couldn't tell what they were as he wrapped his arm around the girl. _

_ "Are you excited to get back home?" 'Pipes' questioned._

_ "Yeah... but I feel like Camp Half-Blood is kinda like my home now too," Jason said, walking into a room._

_ The room had about fifteen people, one of them being a centaur. As well, there was this ping pong in the middle that had some cans of cheese whiz and other random snacks. Around the table were twenty seats in total, only four being vacant._

_ The fifteen people ranged from all different sizes and looks. There were these two guys that looked like twins and seemed _definitely_ like trouble. Then there was this bigger girl who had a permanent sneer on her face. _

_ The one that stood out the most to me was this nervous-looking blonde at the head of the table beside the centaur. She had blonde, curly hair tied up into a ponytail and a leather necklace, but hers had the most beads out of everyone in the room. She had a pencil stuck behind her ear and was fidgeting with a dagger as the others entered._

_ "Annabeth, now that everyone is here, you can start the meeting," the centaur said._

_ "Huh?" Annabeth, the anxious-looking blonde, looked taken off-guard but nodded. "Right, um, the Argo II is getting closed to completion thanks to Leo and the camp's help. We'll likely be able to sail by the 24th and get there by the 25th at the latest, right?" She turned to Leo._

_ "Yep, just need to punch in the coordinates and the baby's gonna get us there in hours," Leo stated._

_ "Annabeth, have you chosen a responsible chaperone?" the centaur asked her._

_ "I don't think there's a need to, the prophecy said we just needed eight half-bloods," Annabeth said._

_ "And it's not like we're gonna do anything, y'know-" Leo began with a smirk._

_ "Yes, Leo, we're aware," Annabeth cut him off with an eye roll._

_ "I quite trust you, but I would feel more assured if there was a satyr that came along with you," the centaur said._

_ "What about Grover?" Annabeth inquired, her eyes lighting up._

_ "Um... I fear Grover might be a tad bit too young."_

_ "He's like thirty," one of the twin-looking guys stated._

_ "Yes, and that's far too young in satyr years. I propose Gleeson Hedge."_

_ Leo, who was eating some cheese whiz, burst out laughing, and choked on the cheese. A few slaps to the back from Jason got him to stop gagging, but he was still laughing._

_ "No offence, Chiron, but how is Coach Hedge _responsible_?" Leo questioned with his eyebrow raised._

_ "He can be... extreme, but he can keep anything 'funny' happening between any of you guys," the centaur, Chiron, stated._

_ "Nothing's gonna happen," Annabeth insisted.  
_

_ "Well," Leo began._

_ "Shut up!" Annabeth snapped._

_ The room went into an awkward silence afterwards._

_ "Um... how about we go over what we're gonna say to them, right? You can't just barge in on Roman territory, Terminus might shoot us down," Jason stated._

_ "Yes, a plan for an introduction. Hopefully, Arina and Percy are making a good impression on them," Chiron agreed._

_ "It's Arina," one of the twin guys said._

_ "And Percy," the other finished._

_ "Well, then we might be trouble. Either they make a good impression, blow up the camp, or everyone's utterly terrified of them," the first guy stated._

_ "Scared of Prissy? There's nothing scary about him," the girl with the sneer remarked, cleaning a spear._

_ "He took down Kronos," Annabeth stated proudly._

_ "You're just saying that because you're his girlfriend," one of the twin guys stated._

_ She looked saddened at this comment, quickly adjourning the meeting and leaving._

_ "Idiot!" The guy's twin slapped him upside the head._

_ My view followed the girl to the beach. She sat down on the sand, hugging her knees and looking out into the sea with a sad expression._

_ "Hey, Annabeth, are you okay?" 'Pipes' inquired, appearing behind her and sitting down beside her._

_ "What if... what if Percy met someone else. What if he started dating another girl? What if-"_

_ "Stop worrying about the 'what if's. I didn't forget about Jason, and we're still together, aren't we?"_

_ "But, you got amnesia _together_, Percy got amnesia along with Arina. What if- what if _they_ got together?"_

_ "Annabeth, from what you told me about Percy, and from what I remember about Arina, they both don't seem like the kind of people who would do that to you."_

_ "I guess so..."_

_ "Let's just focus on getting to Camp Jupiter, then we can worry about that later, alright? I'm sure they're fine."_

_ (Dreams over)_

I woke up, rubbing my sore neck and back. I blinked a couple of times, my vision focussing on a nearing port.

"W-where... where are we?" I asked, rubbing my neck.

"Portland," Hazel stated, looking out ahead into the city.

"Whatever Iris gave you must've knocked you guys out, it's been like a day," Frank remarked.

"Wait... you guys were awake the whole time?" I questioned as Percy started waking up too.

"So, what's the plan?" Frank inquired, ignoring my question.

We all got off the boat, Percy tying it off to the pier. From there, we started walking inland more.

Portland was a fairly large city, but it wasn't as filled with skyscrapers as other big cities. There were several parks and people milling around, but none of them paid much attention to four teenagers covered in dirt and junk.

"Well, you're the quest leader, aren't you?" I replied.

"Uh... right... Arcus said to find Phineas, but where can we find him?"

The answer to his question came when we entered a park.

In the park was a man in a robe waving a weedwhacker and a flock of harpies. He managed to hit a couple and appeared to be protecting a table filled with food.

"Great, he's insane," I remarked sarcastically.

"What makes you say that?" Hazel questioned.

"He's waving a weedwhacker at harpies, that's why."

We walked up to him uneasily.

I glanced behind me and saw Percy and Frank talk intently about something, but I couldn't hear what they were saying over the weedwhacker and the screeching bird ladies.

"Hey!" Hazel yelled.

The guy stopped waving the machine around, looking over in our direction. "Who said that?" He poked the whacker in our direction threateningly.

"Is he blind or something?" I questioned.

"I am a seer, so of course I'm blind!" the man exclaimed.

"So you're Phineas?" Frank inquired, stepping forward.

"Yes, son of Neptune, great seer, blah, blah, blah, what do you want?" he snapped.

"We want information," Hazel stated.

"Hm... well that's gonna cost you."

"Cost us what?" I inquired carefully.

"Well, you see, when I was alive, I was cursed by the gods to whenever I wanted to have a meal, a harpy will snatch it away from me. Now, that Gaea had restored me, the harpies are cursed to only eat food from _my_ table, but I have a weedwhacker!"

"Yes, beautiful story, what do you want?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"There's one particularly meddlesome harpy. She's hiding up at the Multnomah County Library in a nest. I want you to bring her to me, and in exchange, I will answer your question," he elaborated.

I looked at the others, who nodded in agreement.

"We accept your request," Percy stated.

"Okay, now go away!" He began waving the weedwhacker at the harpies again.

We walked away, heading towards a large building a fair bit away that looked like a library.

"Wait, so what are we asking that guy?" I inquired, "are we asking about Frank's gift, the Giants, or something else?"

"Well, my gift doesn't really matter right now. Maybe it's better if I figure it out on my own," Frank admitted.

"You sure?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah, maybe we should ask about the approaching army?" Frank suggested instead.

"Wait, who was that person you mentioned at the meeting, Hazel?" I asked.

"Who?" she replied, confused.

"Alconey or whatever."

She paled again, looking up at the roof. "Maybe..."

"What _can_ we ask about him? Like his location or weakness?" Frank questioned.

"He's in Alaska," Percy stated.

"Alaska's the biggest state in America," I stated, "we'll be like fifty when we finish searching the place."

"Okay, so we're gonna ask him where Alcyoneus is and how to defeat him?" Percy clarified.

"Yeah, guess so-" I was interrupted by a pile of books falling down behind a statue and a squawking noise.

We ran over to the statue to find a red-haired harpy look around at the books anxiously, mumbling random stuff.

"Books calm Ella, "A room without books is like a body without a soul", Marcus Tullius Cicero, 43-106 BCE," she muttered to herself, flipping over books.

"Hey, are you okay?" Hazel inquired softly, slowly creeping towards the harpy.

"CAW!" the harpy squawked, jumping away from Hazel and hiding her head under her wing.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Percy reassured, creeping forward calmly.

"Gah! Phineas hurt Ella! Phineas wants to hurt Ella!" she exclaimed, turning away from us and revealing a nasty gash on her back.

"Hey, just calm down, I can take care of that," Hazel said, motioning for Percy to pass her his man bag. She opened the bag and took out a flask, dumping some of the golden liquid onto the wound.

The wound started to seal itself back, not even leaving a scar.

"Ella, that's your name, right?" I questioned, bending down so I was at her eye level.

She nodded her head.

"We're not gonna turn you into Phineas, okay? We're gonna get you freed from him," I told her.

Someone tugged me from behind. They turned me around so I was facing them.

"Um... not that I'm against freeing her or anything, but what about the quest? We need to get to Alaska still," Frank pointed out.

Percy's eyes lit up. "I have an idea, but you guys have to trust me."

The rest of us looked at each other.

"We've come this far," I began.

"And we're gonna continue this together," Frank finished.

Percy nodded, grinning.

We then took Ella with us to the park where Phineas was waiting, sipping a glass of some concoction.

"Aha! You brought me the dastardly harpy!" he exclaimed, grinning. He reached out blindly to snatch her but I quickly slapped his hand away.

"We have an offer," Percy stated.

"Hm, what sort of offer?"

Percy held up two glass vials with red liquid inside. "Gorgon poison, one can heal any injury, like your eyesight or my amnesia, while the other kills you."

"You wanna wager your life?" Phineas raised his eyebrow.

"If I choose the right vial, you tell us where we can find Alcyoneus and how to beat him, if you win, I die and you get your eyesight back," Percy said.

"What's the catch then?"

"You have to swear on the River Styx whatever you tell us is the truth," I stated.

He rubbed his chin, taking in the offer. "How'd I know you don't know which vial is the healing one?"

"I'll let you choose."

Phineas grinned. "Well, it seems like you have a death wish, but I agree." He beckoned Percy to join him at a picnic table before sitting down across from him.

Phineas pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on it before stuffing it in his robe. "I swear on the River Styx this paper tells you where Alcyoneus is and his weakness."

Thunder rumbled in the distance to confirm the oath.

Percy placed the vials in the centre of the table and let Phineas choose which one he wanted.

"Is this a good idea?" Frank whispered.

"How should I know? Percy's crazy enough to do this so," I replied.

Phineas rolled the vials underneath his hand, grinning and picking up one. Percy grabbed the other vial. They both tipped the liquid back into their mouth, draining the vials.

Percy grabbed his stomach, falling off the bench in pain while Phineas stood up victorious.

Hazel and Frank surged forward to Percy while I stood back, feeling death coming but not to Percy.

"Wrong choice, Phineas," I stated with a smirk.

He gasped, holding up his hand as he started to disintegrate. He tried to grab the piece of paper and rip it up before he completely dusted, but it was too late.

All that remained of the blind seer were stinky robes, slippers, and a piece of paper.

"How'd you know you chose the right vial?" Hazel asked as she helped Percy up.

"If Phineas regained his sight, he wouldn't need Gaea anymore," Percy said.

"And she has bigger plans for Percy, so she couldn't let him die," I said, tensing.

** (Also, HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE! If you're against pride month or against anything related to the Lgtqb+ community please get the fuck off of my story and account.**

** I've also decided to cut half of the content in this chapter out because I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible. Like I said before, super sorry about the delay)**


	28. Oh, schist

** (A/N: I'll be making several edits and/or alterations to the beginning of the story because I'm converting it to Instagram because my followers voted that they wanted to read the story on there as well. The story will mostly stay the same, but there'll be more details. Therefore, updates might be late so I'm really sorry about that. Thank you for reading though and sorry this is late! Remember to stay safe, healthy, and enjoy!)**

Since we freed Ella and the rest of the harpies, she decided to leave her sisters and join us on our quest. She also gave Hazel some advice on her blackouts that she didn't want to tell anyone else for some reason.

We were just sailing away from Portland on the Pax when it started to spring some leaks.

"Uh, Percy, you do-" I began.

"Yeah, yeah, _I know_, I'm just holding it together by my own willpower," he replied.

I glanced over at Frank and Hazel, who were whispering together and sat rather close.

Hazel had an uncomfortable expression on her face as she talked to Frank as if the topic was somewhat difficult to talk about.

Then, they held hands before simultaneously passing out.

"Oh, great, now they're _both_ passing out," I remarked sarcastically, scooting over to see if they were fine or not.

Judging from the fact I didn't _feel_ them die, and their breathing seemed to be normal, they were both alive and well. The only thing I didn't understand was _why_ they passed out.

"Uh, Ella, does this have to do with anything you told Hazel?" I asked the harpy as she circled above us.

"Yes, Ella confirms," she squawked in reply.

I moved back to my spot in the middle of the boat, fiddling with my charm bracelet absentmindedly as I mulled over my dream about that camp filled with kids like us.

_I wonder if Percy has had any dreams like that? Maybe he can make sense of some of it._

"Hey, Percy, have you had any dreams about... a camp or something?" I inquired, resting my head on the edge of the boat and looking up at the starry sky.

The sky was beautiful that night, not a single cloud or plane in sight to disturb the lovely spectacle of stars.

All the constellations glittered alongside each other, making each one of them stand out. There was the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, the Hunter, Aquila, Capricorn, a handful of them were surprisingly visible. It nearly took my breath away just looking at them.

"Um... yeah, but it was pretty fuzzy."

"Anyone familiar in it?"

"Um... there was this blonde girl and this centaur too. The girl said to stay where I was because... Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary were going to get us," Percy said, a look of confusion crossing his face before disappearing.

"Well, the blonde and the centaur sound familiar to me, I don't know about the other two though."

"I think some of my memories are coming back since I drank the Gorgon's Blood," he admitted.

"Lucky, guess I'm just stuck with dreams."

Silence followed that, neither of us knowing what to say next most likely.

You see, Percy and I got to know each other fairly well during our training together. Therefore, there wasn't much left to talk about if we both barely recall our past.

What is there to talk about anyway? The weather? The fact our memories got wiped? Did that. Favourite food/colour? Done.

* * *

As we arrived in Seattle, the Pax fell apart. We were lucky we were near the shore so we could swim to it.

"Agh! Ella doesn't like boats! Titanic! Now Pax!" she exclaimed, flying over top of us to the shore.

Fortunately, shortly before Hazel and Frank woke up so we didn't have to deal with two unconscious teens while in Seattle waters.

"You won't have to deal with me blacking out anymore," Hazel reassured us as we walked onto the beach.

All of us were soaking well besides Ella and Percy, the latter being able to keep himself dry.

"Thanks for keeping us _all_ dry Percy, you're such a lifesaver," I stated sarcastically, wringing out my hair.

"No need for the sarcasm and I was kinda distracted by keeping the boat together."

"If you kept it together longer the rest of us won't be soaking wet."

"We'll just drop by a place and get new clothes if you want."

"Oh, I don't care, I'm just complaining about how you didn't keep us dry."

Frank cleared his throat, interrupting us. "We should get going to the Amazon's headquarters."

We both nodded before walking with the others towards the address Reyna gave Hazel.

"Ella, you can wait here if you want, we probably won't take that long," Hazel advised, the harpy nodding in reply before taking off into the air.

We went down several streets, no one even batting an eye by the fact we were all soaking wet. We eventually ended up a big building with a large black sign, the words ' ' written on it.

"Uh... is my dyslexia acting up or does that say-" Percy began, squinting at the sign.

"Yeah, it says ," Frank answered before I could.

Huh, guess Frank might not have dyslexia either.

We walked through the glass front doors, encountering an empty lobby besides a young woman sitting behind a desk.

"State your names and business," she said, not looking up from her computer.

She had dark hair and olive skin. Her hair was down and she wore a black bodysuit, nothing else from my vantage point.

"Um... we're looking for Hylla-" Percy started before the lady stood up, pointing a sword at Percy while several other black-clad women appeared basically out of nowhere.

"Men do not speak unless directed by us," she spat.

She just asked us a question though-

"Drop your weapons," one of the other women on the sides ordered coldly.

I glanced at the others, all of them begrudgingly agreeing before we handed our weapons over to the women.

Then, we were forced into this side door I didn't notice.

We began walking through a factory, boxes being moved by cranes and such. However, the people packaging all the boxes were men only, all of them wearing chains and orange jumpsuits like cliché prisoners.

Another lady came up to us who looked a lot like Reyna, but older and more mature, if that was even possible considering I barely saw Reyna smile.

She wore a sleek black suit like the others but had this odd belt around her waist. It was golden and had interlocking chains that went around her waist.

Her eyes narrowed once she saw Percy. "_You_, you ruined everything for my sister and I!" she exclaimed.

Percy looked even more confused. "Uh, Ms..."

"I am Queen Hylla of the Amazons, and you can't speak unless I order it," she spat, glaring daggers at him.

He looked at me, his eyes pleading for me to step in to do something.

"Um, Queen Hylla, we've been sent here by your sister, Reyna," I said, stepping forward.

Another lady appeared followed by many Amazons. She had greying hair and a sinister look on her face. As well, something about her seemed unnatural, I could _feel_ something off by her just standing there with her cruel smile.

"Is there a problem?" she inquired.

"Nothing, there are just these demigods," Hylla replied, clenching her fists.

"Oh, well, in that case, I say we kill the boys," the other lady suggested.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your little standoff here but, nobody's killing anybody. We're here by request of our praetor _and_ the god Ares," I stated, glancing at both of them.

Hylla regarded me. "Put the boys in cages, I'll deal with the Roman and the Greek girl," she ordered, motioning for Hazel and I to follow her.

"Fine, but _my_ soldiers will guard them," the other lady said before waving her entourage behind her to the boys.

Hazel and I glanced back at Percy and Frank, who were both being led away roughly by some Amazons.

"You think they'll be alright?" I asked.

"Um... hopefully? And what did Hylla mean by 'Greek'?" she inquired.

"I'm... I'm not sure."

Octavian did mention something about Greeks before, like how Percy's and my names were of Greek origins. Percy's full name meant to destroy, and mine meant peace.

Pretty different, right?

Hylla walked us through other parts of the factory containing cages of all sorts of animals and monsters alike. They were all inside varying sizes of imperial gold cages.

The creatures inside ranged from horses to even hellhounds, which pleaded to me to let them loose mentally.

"What are you doing with all of these animals and monsters?" I inquired, looking sympathetically at a small cage of kittens with white and black fur.

"Gods and mortals request them; we ship it to them _legally_," she responded.

Hazel's eyes lit up when she saw a cameral brown horse with a black mane and tail. She walked up to it carefully, producing a golden bar and feeding it to it, much to Hylla's and my surprise.

"How... how did you do that?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh... well," she began sheepishly, turning away from the horse.

"No one has been able to get close to that horse without it trampling them. Legend has said that the strongest female warrior will be able to tame it, but no Amazon has been able to. The prophecy also says whoever can tame him will bring a new era of prosperity to the Amazons," Hylla remarked, staring at Hazel.

"What's his name?" I inquired, intrigued by the legend.

"Arion."

"Um... why did you want us to come with you?" Hazel questioned, turning back to Hylla after petting Arion.

Hylla sighed, resting her hand on your belt. "I wanted to have a word in private with both of you. Why did my sister send you here?"

"There's going to be an attack on Camp Jupiter in a couple of days, a Giant and his army is going to attack us to be exact. Reyna thinks we need your assistance or else we'll be overwhelmed," I explained.

She sighed once more. "I would love to help my sister, but there's a problem. Othera, the other lady who was formerly queen, has challenged me to a battle to the death, and since she will regenerate after she dies, I don't know if I'll be able to last long enough."

"But we're going to Alaska to free Thanatos! If we free him, you'll be able to kill her," Hazel pointed out.

Hylla's expression lifted at the mention of this. "If you do succeed on your quest, I'll be able to defeat Othera and assist in the battle."

"Great! So how do we get our friends out of those cages? I'm guessing Othera's not going to just _let_ them out," I stated.

"I cannot let them out myself- I'll appear weak to my fellow Amazons. However, if Othera's followers let them escape, it would make her look bad," she stated.

"Oh, and how would they 'escape'?"

"Let's say someone 'accidentally' let loose Arion, and he wreaked havoc, causing a diversion."

Hazel and I smiled.

"Yes, that would be a terrible 'accident'," I agreed.

"And where would our weapons be located? Hypothetically, of course," Hazel questioned.

"Hypothetically, they'll be guarded by some of Othera's followers as well." Hylla smiled. "Well, I will see you two later, if we both succeed." She turned on her heels, walking through one of the side doors.

I glanced at Hazel. "You'll get the boys and I'll get our weapons?"

"How will I fight?"

"You can do the rock summoning thingy and you have a horse."

At this statement, Arion snorted, possibly glaring at me for calling him just a 'horse'.

Hazel nodded before working on freeing Arion while I shadow travelled back to the main area where we entered.

I kept to the shadows, using my powers to keep invisible. Soon, I spotted our weapons and shadow travelled over to them.

With a swift uppercut and a spinning back kick, both guards were knocked unconscious so I easily grabbed our weapons before shadow travelling away.

I followed the noises of screaming and found Hazel breaking Frank and Percy's cage before mounting Arion on a chariot nearby.

I ran up to, throwing them their weapons after making myself visible once more. Fortunately enough, they caught them easily.

"Arina! Behind you!"

I turned just in time to block a strike from an Amazon. I swung my blade at them before backflipping towards the chariot.

Once we were all on the chariot, sans Hazel who was riding Arion, we took off, swerving around cages and Amazons.

"Run us towards that cage over there! The one with the big shadow!" I yelled.

"What?" Frank exclaimed in shock.

"I have a plan just do it!" I replied.

Hazel glanced back warily but complied and directed Arion, who seemed quite reluctant, towards a cage with several lions in it.

I focussed on the shadows surrounding the cage and imagined us appearing at the docks where we first came from. I felt the shadows drawing towards me just as Hazel was about to hit the cage.

* * *

We ran straight through the park as I felt a wave of exhaustion hit me, threatening to knock me out of the chariot if it weren't for Percy who caught me in time from behind.

"Arina? Are you okay?"

"Y... yeah..." I murmured as my vision blurred in and out of focus.

"Hazel! We should stop!" Frank yelled, making me wince because the noise worsened my oncoming headache.

The chariot eventually slowed to a halt near a cluster of trees. I'm not sure if any mortals were around, but hopefully, they weren't or else they saw three kids in a chariot being pulled by a girl on a horse.

Percy helped me out of the chariot and sat me down near the trees, digging in his bag for something.

I felt dizzy and disoriented from travelling with so many people. I was close to blacking out basically from my headache and dizziness.

"What was that?" Frank inquired, looking somewhat shaken up.

"Shadow travel," I mumbled, rubbing my head with my left hand while I used the other to prop myself up.

Percy pulled something out of his bag, a small parcel. He unwrapped it and handed me half of a square inside. "This should be enough."

"I'm fine, I don't need ambrosia," I insisted.

I glanced to the side and saw Hazel produce several more gold bricks for Arion before coming over to us, sitting down beside me.

"You were literally going to collapse a minute ago," he argued.

"I'm good now, okay?" I replied, pushing away the godly food.

"Okay, stand up then and walk towards the chariot."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but I stood up anyway. However, once I did, my vision went green and my legs gave out from under me again. Fortunately, Hazel managed to grab onto my arm and eased me back on the ground.

"Fine." I snatched the ambrosia out of his hand and ate it reluctantly.

Once I bit into it, I started feeling better as a wave of warmth passed through my body, lessening my headache and refocussing my vision.

The ambrosia tasted like warm spanakopita, fresh from the oven and hot enough to burn your tongue. Fresh spinach, crumbly feta, the works.

"Imagine if I did pass out though, that'll be a new record, two times in like two days," I remarked, "hopefully this isn't a thing now."

"Well, hopefully not." Percy helped me into a standing position easily before looking at Arion with an uncomfortable expression.

"What?"

"I can read the minds of horses and pegasi... I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse with him though."

Arion snorted in indignation, whipping his mane around and replying with neighs that made Percy look increasingly uncomfortable.

"Uh, thanks for the advice, I guess?" Percy responded, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So, Arina are you okay to continue or do you want to rest?" Frank inquired.

"I think I'll be fine, we don't have much time left anyway, do we?"

He nodded before we all clambered back onto the chariot, Ella flying down from above and landing inside.

"Where are we going now? Hylla said she might be able to help us if we free Thanatos," I stated.

"We could stop in Canada before going all the way to Alaska," Frank suggested, "I t-think I'm going to ask my grandma about my... gift."

We nodded in understanding.

"Off to Canada then."

The ride to Canada by Arion was incredibly fast. When I mean incredible, I mean _really_ incredible. We could probably run across water or vertical axes if we wanted to. _That's_ how fast we were going.

Of course, this meant we nearly fell off the damn chariot like four times.

We eventually arrived at Frank's grandma's house in Vancouver just as the sun began to rise.

As we came up to his house after dismounting, I stopped the others from going any further. I sensed something, something that reeked to be exact.

"Over there," I whispered, gesturing to a cluster of rocks near a cliff.

We crept over there carefully, peering over the edge and seeing a group of Laistrygonian giants around a fire, laughing and messing around.

Laistrygonian giants were big. They ranged from around eight feet or up and had disgusting yellow, pointy teeth. They were also man-eating and heavily tattooed.

"What are those things?" Frank questioned.

"Canadians," Percy responded.

Frank turned to him, looking offended. "_What_?"

"Laistrygonian giants, they usually live in the north," I rephrased, elbowing Percy in the ribs for his response.

We quieted down as one of them stood up, boasting about something.

"We will eat the boy and gain his gifts! Then we will bring the sacrifices to Gaea!" he exclaimed, his voice booming over us all.

"Yes! Hurrah!" they all cheered in response, pounding their chest and tearing some sort of meat a part with their bare hands.

"Uh... are they talking about _me_?" Frank asked nervously, paling.

"Well, you're the boy with the gifts," I agreed.

"How'd we get to your grandma's house? They have the place surrounded," Percy pointed out.

"Well, I could shadow-"

"No, you can't shadow travel to places you haven't been anyway, remember?" Percy disagreed.

I rolled my eyes. "I hate that you're right."

"Wait, I can summon Gray and use him as a distraction," Frank offered, pulling out his spear.

"But then you'll only have one charge left," Hazel pointed out.

"Well, if Frank finds out what he needs, he won't need that anymore," Percy stated, "but it's your call."

Frank hesitated for a second before turning around and driving the spear into the ground. A small fissure appeared in the ground before a skeletal hand appeared out of it, pulling itself out.

Gray was a typical skeleton with no skin or organs. He had ragged clothes, a tank top and ripped pants that went to wear his calves were supposed to be.

"Uh, go distract those giants," Frank ordered.

Gray nodded, pulling out one of his ribs and running around the other side of the cliff towards the monsters.

Soon, we heard the screams of giants and saw them chase after Gray as he ran away from the house.

The others and I then ran around the opposite way, running up to the house.

The door was oddly unlocked, so we got in with ease before broke apart. Frank went upstairs while the rest of us waited downstairs, looking around the living room uncomfortably.

"Is Arion going to be alright out there?" I questioned, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, he's more of a free spirit anyway. I think if I'd called him, he'll come to me," Hazel responded, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

The living room was somewhat spacious, having two couches and one recliner. The place seemed spotless and high-class as well, doilies lying on the table with coasters and some antique items. On the walls were an old-fashioned clock and a portrait of animals sitting as if posing for the photo too.

We stood around the living room awkwardly for who knows how long, Hazel trying to talk to Ella who was spouting off random facts.

"Wait, if you drank the gorgon's blood and you got your memories back, does that mean I won't unless I drink gorgon's blood too?" I questioned, turning to Percy, who was playing around with his pen.

"Hopefully not," he responded.

"Maybe I can just a god to restore my memories," I joked.

"Ha, imagined if they gave you the wrong ones."

"How the Hades would they do that?"

He shrugged, laughing.

Several hours passed after that, all of us waiting for Frank to come down the stairs when we heard yelling outside again.

"They're back?" I questioned, peering out of the window and seeing giants assembling outside.

"Get Frank, I'll distract them," Percy said before slipping out the side door.

Hazel nodded, rushing upstairs and whisper/yelling his name.

Shortly after, I heard more explosions outside while Frank and Hazel raced down the stairs, running into the living room.

"What was that noise?" Frank asked, bewildered.

"Percy," I answered just as the boy in question ran back inside.

"I blew up their canons, but that's not gonna last long, we need to get out _now_," Percy stated.

Frank led us out the back door on the other side of the house, away from the giants. Along the way, Ella started reciting something.

"_To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown._

"_Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown,_" she continued before stopping.

"Wait, is that a prophecy?" I inquired.

"It sounds like it's for our quest-" Hazel began before being cut off by a loud boom that shook the ground.

I tried stabilizing the ground as we looped around outside. Fortunately, it worked long enough for Hazel to called Arion to reach us and bring the chariot.

We all climbed aboard before Arion took off, nearly knocking Ella, Frank, Percy, and I off.

"Where are we going?" I yelled over the wind and explosions.

"My grandma told me to head to this airfield! We need to take a plane to Alaska!" Frank responded.

Arion seemed to pull us harder as we got away from Frank's old house, which was now engulfed in flames and smoke. However, the odd thing was I didn't feel anyone die inside.

I did notice a buzzard fly out of a window though.

* * *

We soon came up to an airfield, and after Frank did some talking with the pilot, they agreed to fly us to Alaska. However, there was one minor problem.

"Ella is afraid of planes! 'A plane crashed down in a field 150 miles south of Lake Ontario at 3 A.M'!" she quoted, backing away from the plane and hiding inside her wings.

A weird expression passed over Percy's face before he shook his head. "Okay, just stay here then. Find someplace safe and... and I'll send someone to find you."

She nodded, turning and taking off towards a cluster of trees on our left.

"Who do you have in mind?" I inquired, raising my eyebrow.

Hazel sent Arion off before boarding the plane with Frank and the pilot, waving at us to get inside.

"Um... I'm not sure yet," he said uncomfortably.

I snorted. "You'll think or someone, Barnacle Boy." I turned away from him and climbed inside the plane, sliding into the back row.

The plane had two rows of seats and a small area for the pilot. It wasn't that big but seemed fairly new, only having a few tarnishes on the sides. There were only five windows, one for the pilot, obviously, and two for each side of the plane.

"You think Zeus will kill us?" Percy asked, sitting down beside me.

Our knees bumped together as I fought a blush. "Uh... hopefully not? If we get close enough to Alaska, he won't be able to reach us."

He nodded in response before leaning back in the leather seat and resting his head on the top of it.

I looked out the window as the door slammed shut and we started to move. The plane started off in a slow roll, gradually gaining momentum before taking off into the sky. Soon, we were soaring over the clouds in Vancouver.

_(Dreams)_

_ I appeared in a flowery meadow, cherry blossom trees lining the sides and their petals falling gently to the ground. The flowers on the ground ranged from daisies to poppies of all sorts of colours. The air smelled rich of intoxicating perfume, smelling briefly like roses before switching to soothing lavender._

_ I walked forward through the meadow, being pulled by some sort of urge to go forward._

_ Up ahead were two women sitting beside each other on a lounge chair, arguing. They both emitted a godly aura, so I automatically kneeled._

_ One woman had straight, black hair and multicoloured eyes that shimmered in the light. She seemed quite tall as well. She wore a simple faded dress that appeared to shift colours in the sunlight._

_ The second woman was extremely attractive. She had strawberry blonde hair and amber eyes. Her hair was wavy and had some sort of shine to it. She wore a simple white dress with a golden belt around the waist and six-inch heels that would've killed me if I wore them._

_ "Oh, there's no need to kneel, Arina," the black-haired goddess reassured, motioning for me to rise._

_ "Um... not to be rude, but who are you two?" I questioned uncomfortably._

_ "We just met two years ago! Of course, with Hera's little trick you wouldn't remember," the blonde goddess remarked, making a mirror appear before adjusting her flawless makeup._

_ "I am Persephone, your step-mother, and this insufferable-" the black-haired goddess began before being interrupted._

_ "Now, now Persy, that's no way to treat family, now is it? I_ am_ dating your brother," the other goddess pointed out._

_ "_Half-_brother, and you're cheating on my other brother too. You're supposed to be married," Persephone stated, crossing her arms._

_ "Dear, what's the fun of having a closed relationship? Open relationships are the way to go, you can have so many options instead of staying with your grouchy man," the goddess said._

_ "Wait... sorry to interrupt," I began, "but are you, Aphrodite?"_

_ "Yes, and have I mentioned how bad I feel about your love life?" she inquired, waving her hand and making the mirror disappear._

_ "Uh... what?"_

_ "Oh yeah, stop messing with my step-daughter's love life! And I thought you liked Perseus' relationship already?" Persephone questioned, turning to the love goddess._

_ "I do, it is one of the most romantic love stories ever, and what they have in store in a few weeks will be _spectacular_," Aphrodite squealed, "but being faithful is boring, isn't it? Why not spice things up for a change?"_

_ "Then do it with one of your own kids." Persephone glared, the flowers around her shrivelling up and dying._

_ "And to think, you were mad at Hades for cheating on you-"_

_ They continued arguing while I stood there awkwardly and confused._

So Percy _is_ in a relationship_, I realized_, I should be happy for him... right? I knew he _must've_ had someone back home for him, but why does it still hurt? Maybe Aphrodite just messed with my emotions or something, _I rationalized._

_ "Uh... not to interrupt, _again_, but why am I here?"_

_ Both goddesses stopped, looking at me and making me feel more self-conscience._

_ "Well, _I'm_ here to help get your memories back, I'm not sure why _she's_ here, though." Persephone pointed to Aphrodite with a look of disgust on her face._

_ "Dear, do we _have_ to be like that? I'm just here to help with Arina's love life." Aphrodite shrugged, examing her well-manicured nails._

_ "Messing with her subconscious is consider _helping_?" _

_ "What do you guys mean? How are you going to help me get my memories back?" I asked Persephone._

_ "Well, I simply can't just _give_ you them back, that's against Ancient Laws because it directly helps you along with your quest. I was thinking maybe you could perform some sort of meaningful task and they'll come back to you," Persephone elaborated._

_ "And I had a _splendid_ idea!" Aphrodite exclaimed, grinning and nearly blinding me with her pearly, white teeth._

_ "No, it was anything _but_ splendid," Persephone spat._

_ Before Aphrodite could continue, the scene started to get staticky, the flowers glitching like old-fashioned televisions do. The smells in the meadow also started to get choppy, an intoxicating smell to the scent of dirt in a second._

_ Persephone swore in Ancient Greek under her breath. "You're almost in Alaska, we won't be able to contact you anymore once you get there."_

_ "Wait, how'd I get my memories back then?" I questioned._

_ "I can do-" Aphrodite began._

_ "We're _not_ going with that stupid idea!"_

_ "Say the goddess who ate _only_ six pomegranate seeds to get away from her mother."_

_ I was hit by a headache then, making me stumble back into a pile of daffodils. The headache started as a dull throb, but slowly grew strength until I had trouble thinking straight._

_ "Ugh! Fine! I'll go with your idea! But if my husband gets mad-" before Persephone could continue, the whole meadow was cast in darkness._

_ I free-felled through the darkness, spiralling around in the pitch black for who knows how long before my black landed on something relatively soft and comforting._

_ "Ah... Arina, so nice to... see you again," a voice said from the darkness around me._

_ I swerved my head towards the noise, but I still couldn't see anything in the dark. The only thing I _could_ see was that fact I landed on crumbling dirt._

_ "Who-who are you?" I questioned, glancing around._

_ A cruel laugh was my reply, their voice reminding me of crumbling dirt, which seemed vaguely familiar._

_ A face appeared out of the darkness, literally. They had green and black eyes, like an empty void, and curly black hair to compliment it. They emanated a powerful aura, but it wasn't godlike. It seemed far older for that matter, maybe old as time perhaps._

_ "I am Gaea, the first Protogenoi to emerge from Chaos," the face introduced._

_ "Wait, you're the one behind the attack, aren't you? You tried kidnapping me!" I exclaimed, backing away from the face before hitting something._

_ I glanced behind me and saw their face appear, making me jump back and worsening my headache._

_ "Yes... all those statements are true. I find you a _much _better asset than the other demigods in the prophecy."_

_ "What prophecy?"_

_ "Oh, right, that meddlesome goddess has erased your memories of it. I can, however, enlighten you on it." A crumbling, dirt hand emerged from the darkness and reached for me._

_ "Stop! Get away from me!" I yelled jumping up and backing away before hitting her face on the other side again._

_ "Oh, you're in a dream, _I_ control what happens here."_

_ "It's _my_ dream, _I'm_ in control!" I yelled, the walls of shadows trembling._

_ The primordial narrowed her eyes. "Oh, my son was right for making you one of his strategists, you have a certain... fire that I can use." She smirked before melting into the shadows again._

_ (Dreams over)_

I sat up, panting.

_What was all that? Why were those goddesses and Gaea visiting me?_ I asked myself internally, the throbbing in my head lessening.

"Arina? You okay?" Percy yawned from beside me, sitting up and stretching.

I looked ahead and saw Hazel leaning against Frank as she slept, making me smile.

"Uh... just a... dream," I replied nervously, looking out the window and seeing us slowly descend into an airfield.

There was some snow, but mostly it had already melted and left large puddles of water on the black tarmac. Beside the track was a forest of snow-trimmed trees and a road.

"Where do we need to go exactly?" I inquired as Frank and Hazel woke up.

"Uh... Hubbard Glacier," Hazel answered as Frank stifled a yawn from beside her.

"Where are we then?"

"We're landing in Anchorage, you'll need to take a train to Seward from here," the pilot answered just as we hit the airfield.

The plane rumbled down the tracks for a few seconds before lurching to a stop. Once it did, we all clambered off, saying our thanks before setting off again.

"Do any of you guys know _where_ the train is, or are we supposed to wander around like idiots?" I questioned.

"I used to live here, so I'm pretty sure I know where," Hazel responded.

Hazel led us down the road as the snow started to fall again, which I found unfortunate because we were all dressed for California weather. Tee-shirt, shorts, and track pants were totally the perfect outfit for snow-covered Alaska.

Soon the train station came up, which was where we bought some jackets and Percy made a phone call to someone.

Frank was trying to find a way onto the train while Hazel and I talked on the sidelines.

"Are you and Frank a thing now?" I questioned, tying my messy, auburn hair back into a ponytail.

Hazel blushed. "Um... no?"

"You don't sound certain."

"It's complicated," she responded, "but what's happening between you and Percy?"

"Nothing's happening between us."

"I may be new to some of this stuff, but I'm pretty sure you're flirting."

"Since when did you learned about flirting?"

"A daughter of Venus introduced me into the legion, she thought I was a daughter of Venus too so she gave me some information."

"I'm not flirting," I insisted.

Percy and Frank came back then.

"We can go on now."

We walked towards the train, slipping into a passenger car on the train easily. We wandered through the train before finding a booth for us to sit in.

Not long after, a worker came by for our tickets.

"Tickets please?" the attendant requested.

We looked at Frank, who had grown a sudden interest in his shoelaces.

"If you don't have tickets, I would like you-" she began.

I snapped my fingers, standing up and putting on a fake smile. "Oh, but we do, we gave them to you earlier, don't you remember?"

The attendant's eyes glazed over before they nodded. "Yes, I remember, sorry about that," she responded dreamily before walking to the next passenger.

I slid back into my seat, earning some stares from Frank and Hazel.

"How did you do that?" Hazel questioned.

"What _was_ that?" Frank asked instead.

"I used the Mist to trick the attendant into thinking we had tickets, it's not that hard once you learned it. The Mist is already there to hide mythical junk from mortals because their brains can't understand it," I explained with a shrug.

* * *

The train ride was anything _but_ pleasant. For starters, we were attacked by gryphons so we had to get off the train and Frank had to use his last charge for his spear. After, we ran into a forest and encountered a herd of peaceful hyperborean giants. We then hid under one of them and waited until the gryphons were frozen by the giants. In the end, we ended up walking to Seward on foot.

Hyperborean giants were these thirty-foot giants that inhabited the north, hence their name. They were quite peaceful and typically had blue skin. They also had ice powers too.

We were travelling along the road when our luck ran out, again, but it wasn't like we had much to begin with.

We're demigods, the Fates hate us, modern society doesn't understand us, and our parents/gods make us do their bidding.

Percy made a wrong step onto something, slipping into a boggy muskeg and getting trapped in it.

"Percy! Stay still I'll try getting to you!" Hazel exclaimed, glancing around before freezing and falling backwards.

"Hazel!" Frank looked at me, fortunately catching her in time before she hit the ground.

Percy was soon fully submerged in the muddy water. I saw faint bubbles come out the top, but otherwise, I couldn't see him anymore.

"Frank! Bow!" I ordered.

He held out one end of the bow. "You want me to-"

"Hold onto it, I'm going in. Pull me out when I pull on it." I grabbed the other end and dived straight in.

The muskeg was freezing cold and kind of disgusting. There were mud and decaying plants everywhere, from what I felt because I couldn't see, but I pushed through it in search of Percy's body.

I reached out blindly, grabbing onto something and pulling it towards me, praying it was Percy's body and not someone else's that met the same unfortunate demise in the muddy waters.

Once I wrapped one arm around their waist, I tugged on the bow before being pulled out.

I collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily and coughing. I rubbed the mud out of my eyes and was relieved to see I grabbed the right body.

Percy was kneeling over, coughing and wiping mud from his face. He was shivering from the cold and had this unrecognizable expression on his face as he gulped for air.

Frank and Hazel, who had just woken up, had towels and was helping us wipe down the mud. They also wrapped some towels around us as well.

I was shaking from the cold, my hands feeling like they were ready to fall off.

"This is all my fault... if I remembered about the muskegs and warned you guys-" Hazel began, looking upset.

"No, it's not your fault, we should've paid more attention," Frank reassured her.

"Are you guys okay?" Hazel inquired, looking at Percy and I respectively.

"I... I'm not sure," Percy said. He had a troubled look on his face, even sweat appearing on his forehead despite the freezing temperature.

"My old house is near here, we'll stop there and rest," Hazel advised, offering me a hand.

I accepted and was pulled up smoothly, despite her small size.

Hazel led us down a more reassuring-looking path towards an abandoned-looking house. Along the way, she informed us about how Gaea had shown her a vision about what her life would've been like if she hadn't died-

Okay, let me backtrack. Turns out, Hazel died like seventy years ago in Alaska while trying to raise a giant, which she didn't know she was doing. She was then sent to the Underworld and blah, blah, blah. Nico brought her back to life and she was then sent to Lupa to begin her journey.

"Nico was kidnapped?" I exclaimed.

Another thing she learned was that Nico was kidnapped by Gaea and her giants, but we don't know where he was taken or anything else.

"Yeah." She nodded before pushing open the door of her old house.

The place seemed to only have three rooms, the main one with the kitchen and junk, a bedroom, and a bathroom on the side. It looked like an old lodging cabin with the designs and the size.

The main room had some basic items, a fireplace, windows, couches, a table, and a simple kitchenette. There were also some black-and-white photographs taped to the walls in one corner, weathered with age.

"I'll try getting a fire started," Hazel suggested before walking back to the front door.

"Um, can I go with you?" Frank inquired.

She blushed. "Uh, sure."

I sent a not-so-subtle wink before she and Frank exited the cabin, leaving Percy and I alone in the dusty old cabin.

He paced around the room, seeming to be deep in thought and contemplating something important by the way his eyebrow creased.

"Hey."

He stopped and looked at me.

"You okay? You seem kinda jumpy and antsy since the muskeg."

He sighed, leaning back against the wall while rubbing his forehead. "I don't know what happened in the muskeg. I'm a son of Poseidon, the literal god of water, but I nearly drowned..."

I walked away from the old fireplace, moving beside him and leaning against the wall too. "Nerves?"

"No, it wasn't like that. It felt like I was _actually_ drowning, but that's impossible, right? I _can't_ drown." He looked at me for some sort of confirmation.

I sighed. "Maybe you're not as immune to water as you previously thought. Like, I'm utterly terrified of snakes, but my dad's Hades. Despite the fact these are our parents' realms or representations, we can still be afraid of them, in my opinion."

"Wow, I was hoping for something more uplifting and awe-inspiring," he remarked with the shake of his head before sliding down the wall into a sitting position on the ground.

I sat down beside him.

"Percy, how much do you remember of your life _now_?" I asked, fiddling with my charm bracelet.

He looked puzzled by my question before responding. "Um, bits and pieces of my childhood mostly and a bit more. I remember my mom, who I tried calling at the station, then there's my half-brother, who I told about Ella. There's still a handful of blanks, but I'm sure they'll come back soon. Why?"

"Um... Aphrodite and Persephone visited me in my dreams." I began explaining to him what happened in my dream, leaving out the part about Gaea because even I didn't understand it completely.

"Oh... okay." He nodded.

"I was wondering if you had any idea what she's referring to, you have any ideas?" I inquired.

He sat there, thinking. "Um, I'm not sure, gods are very cryptic and unhelpful, you know that. Maybe you need to complete a special task or something?"

"I wonder what Aphrodite wanted me to do though, must've been something pretty bad if my step-mom was against it," I admitted.

"Maybe she wanted you to become a model or something?"

"Pfft, as if I can walk in heels. Those things are basically chopsticks stuck under a shoe."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Well, we'll figure something out, we always do."

I nodded just as the others came back with firewood, starting a fire quickly and warming us up. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that cold while I was in the cabin.

We sat around the fire, discussing the next course of action on our quest. It was almost the deadline, so we had to act fast.

"So how much longer to the glacier, do you think?" Percy asked Hazel.

"Um... I don't it's that far," she replied uncomfortably, "you guys stay here while I'll go check." She stood up from the couch and walked towards the door.

"Do you need-" Frank began.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I won't take that long," Hazel reassured before pushing open the door and leaving.

We sat awkwardly in silence after, just watching the fire.

"So... you learned what your family gift is?" I questioned, leaning onto the foot of the couch.

"Uh... yeah," Frank answered.

Silence followed that.

"You're gonna tell us or?" Percy raised his eyebrow, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, right uh... apparently I'm descended from this demigod who could shapeshift, so I can too."

"Ooh, cool, does that mean you can turn into any animal?" I inquired, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah."

"Ostrich?"

"Well, it'll be better if I knew the animal better."

I paused thinking. "Percy!"

Frank had to stop himself from laughing while Percy glared at me, shaking his head.

"I'm insulted you'll call me that."

"Dude, I just said your name, it's not my fault we descend from animals. Humans _are_ a species of animals, just saying," I pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that was just an excuse to insult me."

"Maybe," I replied with a smirk.

Just then, Hazel burst into the lodge, telling us we had to move fast because the gryphons had found us and we were farther than anticipated.

We ran outside and managed to get a couple of yards from the lodge when the gryphons appeared. They surrounded us in a circle, clawing at us and cawing at us.

"Why do these things keep on attacking us?" I exclaimed, summoning my blades and holding them out threatening.

"I've should've crushed their eggs when I had the chance," Percy grumbled under his breath, glaring at the bird-lion hybrids.

Gryphons were about the same height as us, not counting their wings though. They were a hybrid between a lion and an eagle. They had a lion's body, but their head and wings were all eagle. They may appear to be very noble creatures, but their cries were annoying as the hyenas in the Lion King, the psychotic ones to be exact.

"Gryphons are used by Camp Jupiter, why would they attack us this far away?" Hazel questioned, swivelling her head to the right before gasping.

"What?"

She called out Arion's name and for a moment, nothing happened. However, soon the horse came galloping up, kicking at the gryphons and coming to a halt in front of us.

"Get on!" Hazel yelled, jumping onto the horse's back.

We followed, somehow all fitting on the horse's narrow back, before we took off.

We raced away from the gryphons, who couldn't chase us because of how fast we were going. They remained a blur miles away behind us.

In a matter of seconds, we appeared on a glacier. It had an abandoned-looking camp, which I would like to mention, _reeked_ of death. There was also a decaying archway further on the way, which had a statue where a certain god was chained.

Thanatos, who looked familiar to me, probably because my dad works with him, was a _very_ handsome god. He had long black hair, honey gold eyes, and was muscular. His skin was teakwood colour and he had wings that shimmered different dark colours like black and blue as well.

"Ah... Arina Morales, how nice to see you again," he greeted, staring at me which such intensity that made it harder for me not to blush.

"Uh... hi, I guess, um, how'd we release you?" I inquired, rubbing the back of my head uncomfortably.

"Why would you, daughter of my master, want to release me? I was quite sure you wouldn't want me leading any more shades to the Underworld after what happened last year," he responded cryptically.

I stood there, perplexed at what he meant. Did someone I know died last year? Was I mad at him before?

Hazel, thankfully, jumped in then. "Please, we need to know how to release you or else our camp would fall! The monsters keep on coming back after we tried killing them and we'll be killed!"

Thanatos sighed. "Only one thing can free me from these chains, and that is the fire of life." He met Frank's gaze then, some sort of understanding passing between them.

Frank motioned for Hazel to pass him something, which was some sort of cloth wrapped around something. He took it and unwrapped it, revealing a stick about the size of my hand.

"Frank, are you sure about this?" Hazel questioned worriedly.

"Yes, it's the only way," he answered.

I felt something stirring, something that _shouldn't_ be stirring. A quick glance to the right revealed I sensed hundreds of shades appearing out of the tents, all hungry for a battle.

"Heh, you simple demigods think you can free this god?" a booming voice exclaimed, laughing.

A figure, bigger than Polybotes, appeared from behind a large shadow. They had red hair with stones braided in it, goldish skin, and red dragon legs for, well, legs. His body was mostly covered in gems and stones as well.

"Alcyoneus," Hazel gasped.

"You demigods really think you can free this minor god?" He scoffed. "I will kill you, and then my brother's army will destroy that precious camp of yours!"

"Frank, you free Thanatos, Percy and Hazel deal with the big ugly, and I'll hold off the shades," I ordered, summoning my blades once more.

"No way, there's way too many shades. I can handle the giant by myself," Hazel pointed out.

"Nope!" I replied before running over to the shades, summoning shadows and crushing the shades with.

The others began going off on their own, Frank lighting his stick on fire while Hazel and Percy took on my dad's bane or whatever.

For some reason, I couldn't control the shades despite the fact I've controlled the undead before.

"Ugh! Die already!" I screamed, firing shadows right through some of their bodies while trying to hack off their limbs, which automatically regenerated.

The shades advanced, circling me while some headed over to Frank. I had to think quickly or else he'll be overwhelmed in seconds.

Then it hit me, a terrible, utterly dangerous idea, that might just work.

I shut my eyes, reaching out mentally for the undead souls, sensing them by how they moved and breathed. I focussed on their decayed bodies, trying to forcibly push them into the Underworld.

I could feel the temperature drop around me further than it already was, the sky darkening as I willed the shades to enter the Underworld.

I opened my eyes, letting out a cry of anger before a tornado of darkness surged around me, engulfing all the shades and pushing them off the cliff nearby. I pushed every emotion I could feel into the tornado, hatred, anger, jealousy, sadness, everything I could remember from my life now and the vague recollections I had of before.

I remembered feeling an immense amount of pain from a year ago, but I couldn't stem where it came from, I just focussed it into my powers, willing it to kill the shades.

With one final push, the shades fell over the side of the glacier, plummeting to their deaths, I hope.

I fell to my knees, exhausted. I was so tired I didn't notice the figure behind me.

"ARINA!"

I turned just as something jumped on me, pushing me off the cliff edge as well.

The shade glared at me as we fell towards the icy waters below.

They had dark hair and eyes that fit the dead. They had an ice-covered armour, but underneath it, I could see the unmistakable design of a Camp Jupiter shirt.

My eyes widened in shock as I realized who this was. "You're Michael Varus! The guy who lost the standard in-"

"Yes," he spat, "and I plan to seek revenge against the gods for choosing you _Graecus_ over my esteemed cohort! We will kill your friends, but Gaea has requested you for... your _assets_."

"What the Hades does that have to mean?"

His head swivelled behind, muttering something under his breath before letting me go. "We _will_ meet again, daughter of Pluto, but mark my words, you won't be as lucky." He jumped onto a piece of ice jutting out from the glacier, clinging onto it while staring at me fall.

A second after that, I hit the freezing cold water and nearly blacked out from the sudden jolt. My whole body was shocked by the cold, which made me idiotically gasp out. Then, I tried swimming back up but my body wasn't understanding what my mind was telling it.

My vision blurred as something splashed down from above, pushing towards me. A moment later, I was coughing up water and shivering.

"Are you okay?"

I looked at Percy, who was the person who jumped in the water and managed to create an air bubble around us, enabling me to breathe.

"How-" I began, confused before my previous exhaustion hit me, making my head droop and the rest of my body to go weak.

"Woah! Hey, I got you." Percy wrapped his arms around my waist and rested me on his chest while I tried to regain my bearing.

"Ugh... my head's killing me," I mumbled groggily.

"That might be from the hypothermia."

"Really? I had no clue."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or you hit your head harder than I thought."

"Sarcasm, you idiot."

Silence followed my reply.

"Can you swim back up? I can easily do it for the both of us but I'm wondering-"

"I-I think so." I pulled away from him and somehow leaned against the wall of the bubble.

My breathing was shallow and slower than normal, and it was hard for me to form a coherent thought as I shivered from the cold. Apparently, Percy hadn't dried me with his weird water powers.

He looked at me skeptical from his side of the bubble, tilting his head the side before looking up. "We better get back up, I think Frank and Hazel can handle that giant, but they'll get worried if we're down here for too long."

I nodded before pausing, a thought passing through my muddled brain. Without thinking any further, I grabbed Percy by the shirt and kissed him, straight on the lips.

That's when I knew I fucked up, like, _really_ bad.

A surge of memories coursed through my mind, erasing my hypothermia somehow. Flashes of my worthless mother, Camp Half-Blood, New York, the Underworld, my friends, and most importantly, Annabeth Chase, the girl who's boyfriend I just kissed.

Percy and I pushed away from each other at the same time, a look of shock on both of our faces.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed, his expression either between anger or shock.

"I-I don't-" My eyes widened in realization as it finally hit me _why_ I kissed him. I swore under my breath. "Aphrodite, of, fucking, course."

"That still doesn't explain-"

"She said she had an idea for how I get my memories back, which my step-mom disagreed with and said my dad will _hate it_, and my dad hates you. She must've controlled me or-"

"Arina, we're in the land beyond the gods, this was all you."

I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment and shame. I kissed my best friend's boyfriend, I'm a horrible person...

_I hate the gods so much right now. Hera must've been the one who erased my memories... if she didn't do that I wouldn't have kissed Percy- wait I'm blaming the gods again... this _is_ my fault..._

"Let's... let's just get back up there," he said, not making eye contact with me.

"Uh... I'll shadow travel-"

"No," he sighed, "I'll get us up there..."

I nodded, biting my lip uncomfortably as I grabbed onto his arm.

He used his abilities over the water to shoot us straight up, breaking through the surface and landing us on the edge of the cliff once more.

I let go of him and moved away, looking at the ground awkwardly.

A couple of minutes later, Hazel and Frank came up to us, both breathless. Frank was holding this weird golden staff that had an eagle on the top of it.

"Hey guys," Percy greeted, turning to them.

"Are you guys okay? That shade pushed you off the cliff and Percy jumped-" Hazel began.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Uh, I can't tell if that was a lie or not but I'll just stick with it for the most part.

"Anyway, we found tons of imperial gold armour and weapons in the camp! We should bring them back, it'll help the legion!" Hazel stated, gesturing towards the ghostly camp.

* * *

The ride back to camp was silent, which was good because I passed out the moment I got in a comfortable position on an imperial gold chariot we managed to get.

Let's just say, I didn't sleep well.

_(Dreams)_

_ I appeared near a large chasm that seemed bottomless. It was almost pitch black, but I could see the vague outlines of rocks and the walls around the cave, or whatever, I was in._

_ "Ah, Arina, we meet again."_

_ A familiar face emerges from the chasm, staring at me._

_ "Gaea." I clenched my fist and wished I could punch the primordial._

_ She let out a low chuckle. "Well, it's rather unfortunate you have received your memories back."_

_ "What's that 'pose to mean?" I snapped._

_ "If you had no memory of who you were or your past, you'll be the perfect demigod to manipulate and use in my army. You nearly destroyed the Olympians, after all. Too bad my granddaughter restored your memories along with your... friends..."_

_ I felt a sliver of dread go down my spine when she said that._

_ She wanted to control me, brainwash me, make me into her loyal follower and destroy the gods as I tried to do a year ago. She wanted me to hurt my friends that I barely have any left of, she wanted me to destroy the only home I've ever truly known._

_ "Hm... too bad Lethe won't be able to erase your memories, if she did you'll be a useless child with the mind of an infant."_

_ I stepped away from the chasm, not wanting to even think about what she was describing._

_ The ideas she was suggesting twisted my gut in ways I couldn't explain, but I could tell one clear thing, I wanted nothing of it. I didn't want to be manipulated again, and the thought of it made me sick._

_ "Get out of my head!" I yelled._

_ She laughed. "Oh, you think it's that easy, demigod? I'm an all-powerful-"_

_ "Y-you've haven't fully risen! You can't control me!"_

_ "Oh, but I can haunt you."_

_ (Dreams over)_

I sat straight up, hitting Frank in the face with my elbow.

"Ohmygods, sorry, Frank," I apologized.

"No, no, it's fine, I was standing behind you," he replied, clutching his nose.

I decided to sit right behind Arion on the chariot because I wanted to put as much distance between Percy and I as possible.

We soon arrived at the camp, just under four hours apparently, which was great considering the enemy's army was attacking the camp as we rode in.

Once there, Percy took charge and started ordering people around while we gave out all the weapons and armour we could from the chariot. Then, we struck back.

I ended up fighting a group of storm spirits and Gegeines, which by the way, sucked.

Storm spirits were these horses made from clouds and electricity, but they could also turn into human-like beings with smoky wings.

Gegeines were these six-armed, seven-foot-tall, clay monsters. They also only wore loincloths, so I found that rather... unpleasant when the storm spirits blew wind in a certain area if you know what I mean.

"Need some help?" a voice said from my right, which surprised me enough to nearly slice their head off.

"Oh, sorry, Quilo," I said, firing shadows at the monsters before rolling to the other side.

"It's totally fine, not the first time I'm nearly beheaded," he responded with a grin.

I rolled my eyes, slicing the arm off of one of the gegeines. "Enough flirting and more fighting."

"I am not flirting, for starters, and you're not my type."

I snorted, swiping the legs out from under a clay monster. "Wow, thanks for the compliment."

"Well," he began, pushing back the storm spirits without touching them somehow, "I thought you and Percy were a thing."

I avoided eye contact, stabbing the clay monster in the chest and watching it melt into liquid clay. "He has a girlfriend."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence followed that as we continued fighting back to back, taking down monster by monster in a flurry of blades, shadows, and limbs. Soon, we were standing in the wreckage of clay and dust.

There was a crowd circling Percy and Polybotes. From the looks of it, Barnacle Boy challenged the giant to a one on one duel.

"You think you can defeat me, the bane of your father, son of Neptune?" Polybotes mocked.

Percy's gaze hardened. "I am the son of Poseidon." Then he struck.

He leaped into the air, making several strikes to the giant's abdomen before making a downward arc on the back of the thigh, slicing it wide open. However, the wound automatically healed itself.

"Ha, ha, you cannot defeat me without the help of a god, stupid demigod!"

He raised his eyebrow, smirking. "You think I don't have a god?"

Percy made a run for a broken statue on the side, holding up the head of Terminus, who was yelling.

The fight continued on. The final blow that ended Polybotes was Terminus' detached head smashing into his, killing him from the blow.

The camp cheered in excitement, a group of campers coming forth and lifting Percy upon a shield, chanting his name and proclaiming he should become the new praetor. They carried him all the way to a smiling Reyna, who asked the question. Percy accepted the role, receiving a purple cape before being brought back down.

After all the excitement died down, injured campers were tended to and burial rites were made for the ones who died. Anyone else helped clean up the messes and tried to rebuild the camp, which went by surprisingly quickly.

Unfortunately, I was ordered by my friends to stay in the infirmary overnight because I looked like the living dead, literally.

"I'm fine!" I insisted, "I didn't even use my powers that much, and I already got ambrosia and took a nap on the way here!"

"You nearly passed out," Percy argued.

Percy and I were now on awkward speaking terms.

"Okay, that was _one_ time."

"You nearly passed out three times on the quest," Frank corrected, "once when the karpoi kidnapped you, the second in Seattle, and the third when you nearly died."

"I nearly die all the time."

My friends deadpanned. "That doesn't help," they said in unison.

"Pfft, Percy nearly died at least four times, a _year_," I pointed out, "and he's the one who fought the giant, he should be the one forced into the infirmary."

He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "As your praetor-"

"Are you seriously pulling that card on me?"

"As your _praetor_," he continued, "I hereby order you to rest in the infirmary, or else."

"Or else what?"

"I will give you a better reason to be-"

I snorted. "You're actually threatening me, Barnacle Boy? You do realize I'm far more powerful than you."

"As if, I easily defeated you when we sparred-"

"How 'bout this," Quilo interrupted, pushing us away from the entrance of the infirmary because we were blocking the front door, "Arina has to rest in her cohort and not do anything else. We can't do much for her in the infirmary anyway, we have every medic working right now, even our junior ones. We won't have room for her anyway."

"Thank you, Quilo," I responded, smiling.

My friends complied, agreeing to let me rest in our cohort instead.

Before I went with them to our barracks, I stopped to speak with Quilo for a second.

"Uh, Quilo, you have a minute?"

He had picked up a large crate with a first aid symbol on the side when I asked this. "In a minute. Dennis! Can you get this?"

My brother ran out of the infirmary, dodging injured people.

"Arina!" he exclaimed, running up to me and nearly tackling me in a bear hug.

"Hey, nice to see you too, little bro, you're not injured right?" I lifted up his arm to check for any scrapes, bruises, or anything that could cause pain.

"Yes, I'm fine, _mom_," he replied sarcastically.

"I raised you basically, I'm practically your mom-"

Quilo cleared his throat. "Hate to ruin the moment but two things: how'd you two know each other? And, help me with this box Dennis."

"We're siblings," I answered as Dennis grabbed the other end of the box and took it with ease.

"See ya later, sis!" he stated before running back into the infirmary, bumping into three people.

I turned back to Quilo once my brother was out of sight.

"Huh, I kinda see the family resemblance."

"Uh, thanks."

Awkward silence.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he questioned.

"Oh, right, uh..." I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. "How'd you push back those storm spirits without touching them?"

"Oh, that, yeah, I can control winds and stuff, one of the perks of being a child of Aquilon."

I stifled another laugh. "Wait, wait, wait, you're name is _Quilo_ and your godly parent is _Aquilon_? Pfft-"

"Yes, yes, I'm named after my father, big swoop. It was either that or Thaddeus, my... my mom couldn't decide." He hesitated when he mentioned his mom, a look of pain crossing his face.

I fidgeted uncomfortably, unsure how to continue judging from his tone. "Um, thanks for the help in battle, I guess."

He nodded, looking a little distracted.

I waved goodbye before heading towards my barracks, encountering my friends talking inside. Well, Percy was fast asleep on a bunk while Hazel and Frank talked to each other awkwardly.

I quickly found my bunk and passed out on it.

* * *

The next day, Percy ordered a meeting in the Senate and for the whole camp after receiving a dream message. Before he could say the message, Reyna ordered Octavian to give Percy and I the tattoo that symbolized us joining the legion.

Percy's tattoo was a simple trident with SPQR and one line for a year of service while mine was the planetary symbol of my dad with the standard stuff.

"Outrageous!" Octavian exclaimed.

Percy had just revealed that a ship would be flying to Camp Jupiter from Camp Half-Blood holding some campers for there, Piper, and Jason Grace, the previous praetor. This met a negative reaction from Octavian.

"The Argo II is harmless, also, it has some of Camp Jupiter's campers," I pointed out.

I was also appointed to defend the case of the ship, which was called the Argo II.

"How do we know they're not captives? And how should we trust you graecus?" Octavian countered.

"He's your praetor." I pointed to Percy. "And do you _want_ to doubt our loyalty?" I gave him a glare that made him jump back.

"Try to avoid threatening people?" Percy whispered.

I smirked. "Not my fault."

He rolled his eyes before focussing on the camp. "We shall welcome them into the camp as _allies_, with the oncoming war against Gaea, it's what we need. This was Hera's plan all along, to unite the two camps by sending two leaders to one another. I swear on my _life_ that the Argo II will be harmless."

He seemed to have the whole camp captivated by his speech by the way they nodded along, agreeing with him.

"Wait- I'll like to make this clear- the Greeks must behave or else you, and all of them, will be killed," Octavian said, making eye contact with Percy.

"Of course," he replied, a glint in his eyes.

Soon, the ship was spotted over the horizon, and we had to stop Octavian _again_ from blowing them up. Good thing the camp's defences were already weakened, I suppose.

"C'mon guys." He swung his arms over Frank and Hazel's shoulder while I popped on at the end.

"We'll like to introduce you to our _other_ family," I finished, smiling up at the ship.

** (Sorry if that fight scene kinda sucked, I might change it, later on, to make it nicer. I'm bad at fight scenes but I'm trying to improve. **

** Again, sorry that this is late. I had a math test and other junk, hopefully, everything will be easier once summer break starts or when I finish online school in August. Thank you guys for all the views and follows btw! I love reading your supportive comments and junk.)**


	29. Heh, we're in trouble now

** (A/N: I'm sorry the last chapter was so late and like terrible, I'll definitely change some parts in the future when I find the time too. Thank you guys for following and liking my story by the way! I feel like I don't appreciate you guys enough. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter and stay safe/healthy! Also sorry it's late! It took longer to edit than I thought.)**

"She's gonna judo-flip you," I whispered to Percy as we joined the crowd forming around the ladder that was dropped from the giant ship.

The Argo II was ginormous. It was made entirely of wood and resembled a Greek trireme. It was definitely bigger than a football field and looked amazing. It even had a dragon masthead that I could have sworn I saw move.

"She's... not," Percy replied hesitantly.

"What's with the pause? Afraid that I'm right?"

He rolled his eyes.

I looked ahead and saw four demigods climb down from the ladder.

Reyna stepped forward, greeting the blond named Jason Grace. However, before she could get far into formalities, Annabeth and Percy both surged forward and kissed each other.

Seeing them kiss made me feel jealous- but not like me liking Percy. I was more jealous of their relationship. Imagine having _their_ type of love, one so strong a goddess couldn't even erase. Percy held the _sky_ for her, Annabeth took a _knife_ for him, I don't think anybody could think of a better love story.

As if on cue, Annabeth judo-flipped Percy and almost made me burst out laughing. They said some words to each other before she helped him up.

"Uh, that's Annabeth, she doesn't normally judo-flip people," Jason said awkwardly before introducing Leo.

Leo Valdez, the guy who I had a crush on in middle school and is conveniently a demigod. What are the odds?

I stepped forward, pulling along Hazel and Frank, who were both hanging back awkwardly. "What? No hello to your best friend?" I mocked, looking at Annabeth.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm glad to see you too, Arina."

Percy quickly introduced Hazel and Frank while I looked at Piper and Leo, who both looked more or less surprised by me.

Honestly, it's weird how many people I know on that ship. What's next, Luther Davson is also a demigod? My old teachers were secretly monsters in disguise? Actually, I believe that. They were mostly horrible.

Reyna started barking orders, but naturally, Octavian argued against it.

"You're letting these intruders into camp? With there-there- _warship-_"

"Hey, Octavian, can you shut up?" I questioned, crossing my arms and staring at him.

He glared at me, about to open his mouth in reply before Reyna interrupted him.

"We are not taking them to the camp, we'll be eating here, in the forum."

"Oh, cause that's better," Octavian grumbled, crossing his arms.

"These are our _guests_, you shall burn an offering to the gods for bringing back Jason and Piper," Reyna ordered.

"Yeah, go burn your bears," Percy stated with a grin.

Most of the officers and campers dispersed then, going off to prepare most likely. The only people left near the ladder was us.

I looked at Percy, smirking. "Told ya she'll judo-flip you."

"Lucky guess."

"Annabeth, would you have judo-flipped Percy again if he would go missing, again?" I inquired.

"He'll be lucky if I _only_ judo-flip him."

We laughed before walking towards the area where we were going to have the feast, the others chatting away.

As we walked, I could feel an eery chill go down my spine. It felt oddly familiar, but I couldn't place where I felt it. However, I had a feeling it was something _really_ bad.

* * *

I could tell Annabeth was feeling jealous, or something along those lines by the way she looked around and talked to Percy.

We sat at a table with the rest of the kids on the boat, Hazel, Frank, Percy, Octavian, Reyna, and several officials. Around us, wind spirits flew around and Romans laughed together.

"Are you okay?" I asked her quietly as I slipped into a seat beside her.

I sat between her and the end of the table. Opposite of me was Piper, Jason, Leo, who was making these pinwheels and attaching them to the spirits.

"Um... y-yeah," she responded, looking down at her food.

Reyna called for a toast of friendship before we began sharing stories.

Jason and Piper apparently woke up together on a bus with Leo and Hedge, a saytr I nearly killed on my first day at camp. They were later on brought to Camp Half-Blood and sent on a quest to free Hera from the Wolf House.

"Impossible!" Octavian exclaimed, "That's our most scarced-"

"Yeah, we know, and it would destroy her and the Romans will blame the Greeks. Now shut up and let Jason finish," Piper ordered.

Octavian looked ready to bite back but stopped midway.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'the Romans'? Aren't you a Roman?" I inquired.

"Well, that's the complicated part," Piper stated.

Annabeth jumped in then. "According to Hera, she switched a Roman and Greek demigod and placed them in opposite camps because she believed one of them would be a part of the Great Prophecy."

"I was the Greek switched to the Roman," Piper began.

"And Eliza was the Roman switched with the Greek," Annabeth finished.

Wait... does that mean-

"But there's only supposed-"

"How about we finish with the stories first before getting into that?" Jason interrupted.

I leaned back in my seat as Percy began the story, telling the majority of it while I chimed in occasionally.

By the end of it, I could tell Annabeth was about to cry when he mentioned the only thing he remembered was her name.

Again, relationship goals right there.

"Well, I see why they made you a praetor," Jason remarked.

"On that note, there's only supposed to be _two_ praetors, not three," Octavian pointed out.

"Either way Jason and I both outrank you, so we can _both_ tell you to shut up," Percy stated, earning a fist bump from Jason and making Octavian turn purple as his shirt.

Percy and Jason began a brief conversation praising each other before I felt Annabeth kick her boyfriend in the shins.

"We should talk about the Great Prophecy, I believe you guys are aware of it?" Annabeth inquired.

"Yes, Octavian, have you committed it to memory?" Reyna turned to the pale augur.

"I have, but-"

"Recite it please, in English."

Octavian rolled his eyes before beginning. "Eight half-bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall-"

"An oath to keep with final breath, and foe bears arms to doors of death," Annabeth finished, reddening by the stares she was getting.

Frank leaned forward, staring at Annabeth. "Is it true you're a child of Mi- I mean Athena?"

"Yeah, why is that such a surprise?"

Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of-"

"She is what she says she is, and she's here in peace. Percy has spoken highly of you as well." Reyna cast Annabeth a glance I knew all too well.

Jealousy.

"Well, that still doesn't explain why Eliza was sent to Camp Half-Blood and why I'm here. If she was in the prophecy, shouldn't Hera have switched her instead of me?" I questioned, interrupting their mini stand-off.

"Yeah, that doesn't add up," Percy agreed.

"Hera says that she knew a child of the Underworld would be involved, and she thought it was Eliza because her dad's apparently Charun. Then you were discovered later on," Annabeth elaborated.

"Oh great, I'm second-choice for prophecies too," I said sarcastically.

"Anyway, we must sort out what the other lines of the prophecy mean. We obviously need to combine forces and find these 'Doors of Death'," Annabeth stated.

Hazel picked up a ruby off the table. "My brother Nico went looking for the doors."

"Your brother-" Annabeth began.

"Yes, she's my sister, continue Hazel," I urged, cutting Annabeth off.

"Well, he went looking for them and... he disappeared. I don't know what happened to him," Hazel admitted worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll look for him along the way. We need to find the doors, which are in Rome. The _original_ Rome, according to Thanatos," Percy stated.

"You meant Thanatos?" His girlfriend seemed surprised.

"Yeah, and I nearly died, nothing big," I added.

The others stared at me as if I sprouted another head by my statement, except for Percy and Leo, the first being used to it and the second busy with the pinwheels.

"Now death is free monsters won't be able to return, but the Doors are still open so they might be able to still get out." Percy took a bite out of his burger.

"Like water leaking through a dam," Piper said, fiddling with a braid in her hair.

"We have a dam hole," Percy said with a smile.

"A big dam problem," I agreed with a smirk.

"What?"

"Inside joke, anyway, we need to find a way to close the doors before even thinking about battling the giants or Greece. With those things open they'll just keep on coming back," I pointed out.

"You're proposing to go to the ancient lands and the Mare Nostrum," Reyna stated, picking an apple off a floating tray and twirling it in her hand.

"Mary what?" Leo questioned.

"Mare Nostrum, it means _our sea_, it's what the Romans used to call the Mediterranean," Jason explained.

"It is the birthplace of all gods, giants, and monsters. Travelling in America is hard, but there it's ten times worse."

"Yeah, but that's what you said about Alaska," Percy pointed out.

"It's the place where all monsters are from, that place will be filled with more monsters than you can imagine. And if eight of us go, we'll smell like the world's best barbeque to a pack of feral dogs," I said.

"It has been off-limits for Roman demigods for centuries, no one in their right mind will dare go there," Reyna stated.

"Well, good thing we're crazy, right? And the Argo II is the top of the line warship perfect for protecting us all," Leo reassured, making more pinwheels.

"We have to act quickly. We don't know what Gaea's planning, but she's getting stronger by the day, summoning more monsters and invading dreams," Jason said.

"'Eight half-bloods shall answer the call', that means it has to be a mix from both of our camps. Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Piper for the Romans and Percy, Leo, Annabeth and I for the Greeks," I pointed out.

"And we're supposed to just accept that? You just said Piper isn't even a Roman! She doesn't count," Octavian exclaimed.

I stood up, staring him down. "You honestly want to argue with me? Piper, Jason, Percy, and I were kidnapped, our memories _erased_ and placed in opposite camps, so we earned our right to be on this quest. Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Annabeth have helped us, fought _giants_, and are far more skilled than your incompetent ass will ever be as well."

Octavian stood up, ready to argue with me, but a familiar voice called out from behind us.

Turns out, it was Percy's half-brother, Tyson. He ran towards us with Mrs. O'Leary and Ella, who was riding the hellhound.

"Ella is pretty and scared. She won't go on the boat," Tyson said.

Tyson was the opposite of every demigod-eating cyclops. He was sweet, innocent, and one of my friends. He would literally cry if he actually hurt a fly.

He was wearing a flannel shirt with denim and had the SPQR banner across his chest as he wrung his hands nervously.

"No-no-no more boats. Titanic, Lusitania, Pax... boats are not for harpies," Ella muttered anxiously.

"Did the chicken girl just compare my boat to the Titanic?" Leo questioned, appearing offended.

"She's not a chicken and she's just high-strung," I stated defensively.

"No boats, bad luck." Ella looked at Annabeth before squawking. "Wisdom's daughter walks alone-"

Frank stood up, worry flashing across his face. "Uh, Ella, this might not be the best-"

The harpy didn't listen. Instead, she covered her ears and continued, louder. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome, Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."

Everyone went dead silent after that, you could probably hear a pin drop. Not long after, chatter returned to the tables around us, but we remained silent.

"Hey, Tyson, why don't you take Mrs. O'Leary and Ella outside for some fresh air-" Percy suggested, being the first to recover.

"Wait, what did that harpy just say?" Octavian said, staring at Ella.

"Ella reads a lot!" Frank blurted out, "she must have read that from-"

"No, that sounded like a prophecy," Octavian stated.

I laughed. "Really? Back at Camp Half-Blood harpies have enough sense to clean cabins and dishes, do harpies recite prophecies here? Do you consult them instead of your bears?" I remarked.

The senators looked at Ella and Octavian before laughing, the whole idea seeming ludicrous.

"Well, guess you guys can go then, right?" Percy glanced for approval at Reyna.

She looked at Ella with an expressionless face. "Yes, go ahead."

Tyson smiled before climbing on Mrs. O'Leary's back and riding off into a nearby shadow with Ella.

"We must consult with the Senate before letting our legionnaires embark on this quest," Reyna stated.

"This whole thing smells like treachery," Octavian pointed out, "that trireme is not a ship of peace!"

"Come aboard, man. I'll give you a tour and show you it's perfectly safe, I'll even give you a tiny sailor's hat," Leo suggested.

Octavian's nostrils flared, but before he could argue, Reyna agreed and ordered them off.

Just as they were walking away, I felt that weird chill go down my spine again. However, I couldn't place where I recognized it from.

"Uh, Reyna, if you don't mind, is it okay if I show Annabeth around-" Percy began.

"No," she snapped, "I'll like a word in private with her first if you don't mind, my fellow praetor."

Annabeth glanced at Percy and I anxiously before following Reyna out of the forum as the rest of the Romans started to disperse and go off on their own.

I was left with Hazel, Frank, Piper, Percy, and Jason.

"Um... so... whatcha guys want to do to kill time?" I asked awkwardly, slipping out from my seat.

"I guess we could catch up," Piper suggested with a shrug.

"Do you guys know each other?" Frank inquired, confused.

"Yeah, we went to school together," I revealed.

"Oh, you were the girl in the pictures! Piper showed me some of them," Jason realized.

"Yep."

An awkward silence followed that.

"So, how's Camp Half-Blood?" Percy asked.

"It's good, Leo didn't manage to burn it down in the past couple of months," Piper said, smiling.

"Nah, burning it down would be too easy," I pointed out, "I say flood it."

Percy deadpanned. "Are you just saying that because-"

"Yes."

The others broke off then, Frank and Hazel going off in one direction, same with Piper and Jason. Unfortunately, that left me with Percy.

I know things got better- I even said that, but I guess being alone with him is worse.

Percy and I were walking around the forum, passing lares and kids chasing each other. The place seemed calm and reminded me of Camp Half-Blood sadly, making me homesick instantly.

"I'm really sorry about Alaska," I blurted out.

Percy sighed. "I've already said it was fine."

"Yeah, but Annabeth's my best friend and-"

He turned to me. "You _are_ going to tell her, right?"

"What do you mean _me_? I thought you were-"

"You kissed me, I didn't kiss back."

"You're her boyfriend!"

"You're her best friend! She deserves to hear it from you, not me. Also, _you're_ the one who kissed me."

I sighed, kicking some dirt under my foot absentmindedly. "At least... at least _be_ there, I don't want to tell her alone."

"Yeah, of course."

Unfortunately, we became preoccupied with something else at that moment.

The Argo began firing on Camp Jupiter, blowing up buildings and setting stuff on fire. Soon, the Romans started yelling and firing catapults at the ship while we tried to reason with them.

Percy, Hazel, Frank, and I got cornered near a fountain, but that was hardly a problem. I was just mainly worrying about Annabeth, who I haven't seen since she left with Reyna, and Piper and Jason, who were surrounded by angry legionnaires.

"Percy!"

Annabeth came ducking out from the crowd, avoiding a plate of sandwiches and several fists.

"What's going on?" Percy questioned.

"I don't know!" she replied.

Octavian climbed down from the ship covered in soot and his robes tattered. "I warned you! The Greeks have fired upon our camp! Kill them!"

"We need to get outta here now," I yelled, firing more shadows at the demigods and bending the Mist to try to hide us.

"Frank, Hazel, make a choice, are you guys going with us or not?" Percy turned to the duo.

Hazel slipped on her calvary helmet. "Yes, but there's no way you're getting on there without a distraction." She whistled, Arion appearing in a blur.

"We'll Iris-message you later," Percy said.

She nodded before speeding off on Arion, confusing and scaring a small chunk of the Romans.

"I could shadow travel us on there," I suggested.

"But-"

"It's worth the risk!" I argued, dodging a brick.

I glanced over to Piper and Jason, who weren't faring any better since the last time I checked.

Piper tried using her charmspeak, which washed over the Romans and made them hesitate. However, a stray brick flew through the air and hit Jason, knocking him unconscious. The Romans surged forward at this.

"Frank, it's up to you, can you help them?" Percy looked at the anxious Asian boy, gesturing towards Piper and Jason.

Frank nodded before I grabbed Annabeth and Percy, pulling them to the fountain's shadow.

I imagined the vague layout of the ship, maybe a foot above it to be exact.

A second later, we stumbled onto the ship's deck, Percy cutting off the rope and dropping Octavian into a couple of Romans.

Much to my shock, Leo was _actually_ firing on the camp, loading the ballistae with a dazed expression.

"What are you doing, Leo?" Annabeth exclaimed, staring at him.

"Destroy... must destroy," he replied in the midst of shooting another firey spear.

Percy tackled him, his head hitting the deck and his eyes rolling up.

"Annabeth! Go!" Percy ordered.

Annabeth nodded, rushing towards the control panel and pressing a couple of buttons before we lifted off and flew away uneasily.

Frank appeared, as a dragon of course, and placed Piper and Jason on the deck. From there, Jason was rushed downstairs to deal with his head injury.

I looked at the others uncertainly, risking a glance back at the burning camp.

* * *

I was downstairs, eating some ambrosia while the others chewed Leo out upstairs. The only people absent from that was Hazel, who was still off with Arion, Percy, Piper, and Jason, who was being tended by Piper.

"You okay, Arina?" Percy questioned, popping his head into the lounge/mess hall of the ship.

The lounge/mess hall was pretty sick if you asked me. The walls were designed to look like Camp Half-Blood, which did _not_ help my homesickness. There were also these cool chairs with cupholders, sword holders, massage functions, and built-in headphones.

"Yeah, I did better than I expected shadow travelling to a place I haven't been before," I remarked, drinking some water.

There were also cups and plates from camp that filled with whatever you wanted, non-alcoholic, of course.

"Okay, well, I'm going back upstairs with Annabeth to talk to that kid," Percy said, saying 'kid' distastefully.

"C'mon, there must be a good reason why Leo attacked the camp," I stated, standing up from one of the reclining chairs, "maybe Octavian tricked-"

"Annabeth said it was all him, and why are you defending him? We barely know him."

"Well, I've known him far longer than you have, I went to school with him, _remember_? Also, why would he even attack the camp with Octavian onboard? I doubt he's that stupid."

"Whatever, let's just go up." He turned, walking down the hall towards the stairs.

I sighed, following him.

There were nine bedrooms, one for each of us, including our chaperone, Hedge. According to Annabeth, she already got some stuff for Percy and my room from our place.

I did leave a lot of junk lying around in Percy's apartment once I moved in with his parents and him.

Living with Percy, his mom, and his step-dad was pretty good. They were really nice and Mrs. Jackson is a _phenomenal_ cook. I could honestly eat her blue cookies all day and not give a shit about my homework.

Mr. Blofis even got me a spot in Goode High School, the same school Percy goes to. The place is nice and I owe Mr. Blofis big time for getting me into the tenth grade despite the fact I never did ninth officially too.

Leo was standing with the dragon masthead, talking to Frank about something when we came up.

"Is Jason-" Leo began worriedly.

"He's fine, just resting. Piper's keeping an eye on him for now," Annabeth cut him off.

Leo relaxed slightly but still looked on edge.

"Annabeth said you _did_ fire the ballista on camp," Percy said, his expression cold.

"Man, I'm sorry-" Leo started.

"_Sorry_?" Percy questioned, looking angry.

Annabeth put a hand on his chest, pushing him back while Leo trembled in fear.

"Okay, he fired the ballista," I said, stepping between them, "but we have bigger things to worry about, like the _quest._ I'm sure saving the world is far more important than destroying Camp Jupiter."

He begrudgingly agreed, stepping back.

Leo explained the damage to Annabeth, talking about what supplies we needed and a bunch of other stuff I didn't understand.

The dragon head started making squeaking noises, making me jump back in surprise.

Leo sighed. "Perfect."

"What's perfect?" Annabeth inquired.

"Festus found us just what we needed. Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something and tell your girlfriend to meet us in the Great Salt Lake, Utah?"

Frank nodded, looking a little annoyed by the way Leo ordered it before turning into a bird and flying below.

"I'm going to Iris-message my brother," I said, turning and heading back downstairs.

"Nico?" Annabeth replied, confused.

"No, Dennis."

I walked down the hall, finding my room quickly and opening it with ease.

It was a standard room, having only two bags lying on the ground. There was a double-sized bed, a dresser, enough room for stretching, and a fountain in the back.

I opened one of my bags and found my clothes folded neatly inside with a note on top from Mrs. Jackson wishing me well and good luck on the quest. The other bag had my Stygian sword, a bag of drachmas, notebooks, a camera, some film, and a star map.

I grabbed a drachma and walked up to the fountain, throwing a coin in and praying to Iris. A moment later, an image of my brother and Quilo appeared, both of them sitting across from each other in a barrack.

"Quilo! Dennis!" I whisper/yelled, unsure if there were any unwanted listeners.

They both jumped back in surprise.

"Arina! Are you okay?" Dennis inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine, were you hurt or anything?"

"He's fine, but what the hell happened back there? Why did your ship start firing at us?" Quilo questioned.

"I don't know, we're trying-"

"What do you mean by, you don't know?"

"Does it fucking matter? We barely made it out alive, okay? Jason's hurt right now and our ship's barely flying," I spat, crossing my arms at him.

"Hey, chill, I'm just worried, okay? Octavian's rallying the legionnaires and he wants blood. He sent out eagles to track you guys down and he wants to kill all of you, Greeks _and_ Romans."

I froze. "_What_?"

"Reyna doesn't want a fight, but Octavian's basically got the whole legion to follow him now."

"Fuck..." I looked at the ground, tapping my foot while trying to think of something. "Okay, I'll tell the others. Please keep my brother safe, I don't know how many of the Romans know we're siblings and if they find out-"

"Yeah, I know, they'll use him as leverage."

"Hey! I'm right here, y'know!" Dennis pointed out.

"Just keep an eye on him, I have to go," I stated.

"Yeah, of course, bye." He and Dennis waved before I swiped my hand through the rainbow and rushed to the lounge.

"We're gonna land so- uh, hold on!" Leo's voice came over the intercom.

I slipped into the lounge, strapping myself in a seat with the others as the ship began its shaky descent into the lake, Hedge yelling 'bring it on, lake' the whole time.

Not long after we landed, Leo and Hazel appeared in the doorway.

"We landed, what now?" Percy questioned, tearing his eyes away from the live-feed of Camp Half-Blood.

"We should figure out the prophecy Ella said. That was a prophecy, right?" Frank double-checked, looking around at us.

"What?" Leo questioned.

"Ella, the harpy, read all these ancient books that contained prophecies from ancient Rome that were supposedly destroyed," I explained.

"Oh, so that's why you didn't say it was a prophecy because the Romans would've wanted her," Leo realized.

"Ella was a captive when we found her." Percy clenched his fist, his expression hardening. "I couldn't let that happen again. Anyway, I IMed Tyson to take her to Camp Half-Blood to protect them from Octavian."

"Well, safe as they can get. I messaged my brother, and according to Quilo, they've sent out eagles to track us down," I stated.

"We'll worry about that later, same with the prophecy. How can we fix the boat?" Annabeth inquired, looking at Leo.

"Well, the easiest thing to get is tar, you can get that at some roofing place in town not far from here. Then there's lime and Celestial bronze, which are located on an island not too far from here," Leo said.

"But we have to work quickly, if Quilo's right, the eagles would be on us in hours," Hazel pointed out, "and then probably the whole legion."

We all looked at Leo then.

"Guys, I'm really sorry about that. I don't know what happened and-" Leo began, trying to defend himself nervously.

"Leo, we've talked and it _couldn't_ have been you, I felt that cold feeling too. It must've been some sort of magic Gaea or Octavian cooked up to cause the Romans to attack us," Annabeth reassured.

"Well, I felt it too. It felt kinda familiar though," I remarked, tapping my foot.

"Could it be something from the Underworld?" Percy guessed.

"Maybe..."

"Anyway, back to the mission, we'll split up then, right?" Annabeth checked.

"Is that the best idea?" Percy questioned.

"Well, we are eight immensely powerful demigods, I presume, so I guess our scent would be worse than having a phone. I think splitting up would be the best idea, Piper and Jason stay on here, of course, then three people get the tar and three people get the lime and the Celestial bronze," I suggested.

Annabeth looked at me, mildly surprised. "When did you get so good at planning?"

"Uh..." I glanced at my shoes, uncomfortable.

An image of the strategy room on Mount Othrys appeared in my mind followed by Kronos and some Titans congratulating me on a good plan.

"Doesn't matter," Percy said, "but who's going where?"

"I'll find the Celestial bronze," Hazel offered, "I'm good at finding metals."

"Well, long as Annabeth's my buddy, I'm good." Percy laced his hand with Annabeth, smiling at her.

"Frank! You were amazing as a dragon, maybe you could fly them to town?" Hazel suggested.

Frank cast Leo a skeptical glance, probably not trusting him with his girlfriend.

"Uh, a dragon would bring too much attention. I can just shadow travel us there and back, then you, Frank, and Leo can get the bronze and lime," I stated instead.

"Yeah, I'm fine with that," Frank agreed, seeming more at ease.

"Arina, you-"

"I'll be fine." I brushed off my friend's concerns before turning to Leo. "How long would it take for you to finish fixing the ship?"

"Probably a couple of hours."

"Okay, let's go then."

* * *

Turns out, I _was_ fine.

I've been to Salt Lake City _once _last year for a private mission with... Ethan. I vaguely recall the place, but it was enough for me to shadow travel, fortunately.

We appeared in a mostly vacant alleyway, sans some stray cats and rodents.

"See, told you I'll be fine." I let go of Annabeth and Percy's arms, stepping forward and looking at them.

"Let's just get the roofing tar," Annabeth stated, walking out of the alleyway, hand in hand with Percy.

Oh yay, I'm the third wheel. What _fun_.

It didn't take long to find a store that sold roofing tar. However, there was a minor problem. Tar monsters.

By some chance, we chose the one store run by monsters, so now we're stuck fighting like twenty tar monsters for like a five-gallon, plastic bucket of tar.

"How many times have we've been attacked in a store now?" I questioned, trying to slash a monster but just getting my sword stuck in it.

"Too many," Annabeth replied, ducking a swing from one of the tar monsters and getting a chunk of tar on her hair.

Tar monsters were these seven-foot blobs with legs and arms, kind of like the ones in Scobby Doo. Big, sticky, and annoying as hell.

"How the Hades do we defeat them?" I asked, managing to free my sword and backflipping back. I ended up back to back with Annabeth and Percy.

The tar monsters surrounded us, closing in.

"I have an idea," Percy said.

A second later, the water pipes in the building burst, drenching us and soaking the monsters until they became a sticky, black puddle surrounding us.

"Okay, let's go," Percy stated casually, walking up to the bucket of tar and picking it up while Annabeth and I stared at him.

"What? We don't have all day," Percy said, heading towards the exit just as the tar monsters started reassembling themselves.

"Oh great," I muttered as Annabeth and I ran out behind him in pursuit.

"You think you could get us back, Arina?" Annabeth inquired.

"No, we're gonna run back obviously," I remarked sarcastically.

"This isn't a time for sarcasm!" Annabeth exclaimed, both of us ducking as tar was slung at us.

"There is _always_ a time for sarcasm!" I grabbed Annabeth and Percy's arms again, steering them towards a shadow before shadow travelling.

I felt us travel through a dark, shadowy, narrow passageway before stumbling onto the ship deck.

"We should get this to Leo," Annabeth said.

Percy nodded, carrying the bucket while running down the steps towards the engine room with us following.

"Hazel, where's Leo?" Annabeth asked as we almost ran into her in the hall.

"Engine room," she replied, standing in front of Jason's room.

We nodded before shuffling down the crowded hallway to the engine room at the end of the hall, the ship lurching dangerously back in forth once we were inside.

"What's that?" I questioned as we handed the bucket of tar over to Leo, who had tons of fake tattoos and his hair gelled back.

He looked kind of hot, to be honest.

"Uh, we've might've angered some nymphs in the lake," Frank stated as Leo dug around in a box for tools.

The ship tipped to the side again, making me slip and fall on my back.

"I'm fine," I said, the ship tilting to the other side and making me slide across the floor.

"I'll go deal with them," Percy stated before going back upstairs.

Frank offered me a hand, which I gratefully accepted, before pulling me up.

We started helping Leo with fixing the ship as Percy argued with the lake nymphs outside, making the ship rock around quite a fair bit.

Several hours later, we finally finished fixing the ship.

** (Okay, so I know I just went on hiatus like a month ago, but I'm going on another one-week one to start backing up these chapters so I won't end up posting them late again. By that I mean I'll be posting chapter 30 while I'm writing chapter 31. I'll also be spending some time on some personal stories and online school. The hiatus will be from July 5-11. I'm _really_ sorry about this, but it'll better in the long run.**

** Also, I'm really confused about something. Did Percy ever finish junior year (11th grade)? According to the Wiki page, he never did it but he's going to University in the Ship of the Dead. Anyway, for this story I'm just gonna go with the missed up timeline.)**


	30. Unluckiest crew in the world

** (A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus, anyway, enjoy this new chapter I poorly planned. Also, my plan to write a chapter ahead failed horribly because I joined too many roleplays recently. Sorry this is late but, stay healthy and safe!)**

_(Dreams)_

_ I appeared in a dark chamber with elevator doors in front of me. The place was dark, wet, and somewhat resembled a musty, old cave. _

_ "Ah, so nice to talk to you again, Arina," a voice said from all around me, echoing across._

_ I turned around, looking for a face in the sea of shadows. I recognized the voice, it was the voice that has been haunting my dreams for days now._

_ "Gaea, what do you want?" I snapped._

_ "Well, you, of course, you are quite a remarkable demigod. Daughter of the second eldest Olympian, strategist of Kronos, ex-lover of a son of Nemesis-"_

_ "Stop! What do you want with me?" I questioned, trying to hide the shaking in my voice._

_ For some reason, everything she said to me, especially the Kronos and Ethan part, made me uncomfortable and scared. I haven't felt this way towards anything... ever, well, besides when I'm being confronted with snakes and needles. _

_ "Well, like I've told you before, you would be a valuable asset to my army, leading all the ignorant minor gods, monsters, my children, and all those so-called 'heroes'. You're a natural-born leader, aren't you? Being the princess of the Underworld after all."_

_ "You're gonna destroy the gods! Why would I help you? You probably made the Romans turn against us too!"_

_ "Hm... all true accusations, but didn't you help my son, Kronos? You helped him kill your friends, didn't you? You helped him find your friend's mortal point. You helped devise a plan to get your best friend stabbed-"_

_ "I had no part in Annabeth getting stabbed! She jumped in front of Percy-"_

_ "Well, you revealed his mortal point because of that."_

_ I clenched my fist, wanting so badly to punch this primordial in the face.__ "Why? Why are you doing this? You helped the Olympians in the first Titan war, you gifted Hera a tree of golden apples, why are you so against the gods?"_

_ "Well, I want all my children free, don't I? The Olympians imprisoned the Titans, cast them into the deepest parts of Tartarus." At this, she chuckled._

_ "What? What's so funny?"_

_ "Oh, you'll soon find out. You don't know what awaits you in Rome, not even close. Don't worry, I'll spare you, you will be useful once you comply. As well, your blood would be valuable."_

_ I took a hesitant step away from the shadows, glancing towards the elevator and feeling a dark aura emanating from it. However, it was an aura that felt vaguely familiar._

_ "Ahh, the Doors of Death, I see you're interested in them."_

_ "Those are the Doors of Death? It looks like an elevator," I stated bluntly._

Side note: what _are_ the Doors of Death? Why are they so important?_ I questioned internally._

_ "Oh, but many great things look quite humble."_

_ I paused, biting my lip while glancing into the shadows. "Where are you?"_

_ "I have not fully form, so I am simply where I am needed."_

_ "You're not needed nor wanted in my dreams."_

_ "Oh, are you sure?"_

_ I felt like I had vertigo as the room spun around, making me dizzy and unbalanced. I crumbled to the ground as Gaea's ghostly laugh echoed throughout the chamber._

_ (Dreams over)_

I woke up with a start as I heard yelling above deck, likely from Hedge yelling at the TV or something.

The hectic day from before came crashing into my mind as I quickly got dressed. The night before we started discussing the quest, images Piper saw in her blade, what Nemesis told Hazel and Leo at the great lake, the prophecy, and how long Nico would last.

_Pomegranate seeds, huh?_ I opened my backpack and found a jar of seeds from my step-mom's orchard alongside a bottle of Stygian sleep.

I headed to the mess hall, greeting my friends before grabbing a plate. A moment later, a plate of spanakopita appeared on it, nearly burning my mouth and tongue but I couldn't care less.

Not long after, we all climbed onto the deck as we landed in a field of sunflowers in Kansas, our first destination on this crazy quest.

"So, where are we- uh, I mean, where are you going?" I asked Piper.

Piper saw a vision in her dagger, which showed images of the future or such, about something in Kansas and probably other stuff judging from the look of uncertainty and fear on her face.

"I want to check out the highway, somewhere with the sign Topeka 32," she responded from beside Jason.

I looked around at the others, who were almost all standing beside their significant other. Hazel was with Frank, Jason with Piper, and Percy alongside Annabeth. Of course, there was Hedge and Leo, but as far as I knew, Hedge's wife was elsewhere and Leo was single.

"What else did you see in the knife?" Annabeth inquired.

Piper grew hesitant before explaining the god in her vision.

"Oh, purple shirt? Vines on his head? Sounds like Bacchus," Jason stated.

"Or Dionysus," Percy said distastefully.

"Either way he sucks," I remarked.

_So Bacchus cursed my mum to be the shitty person she is now? Wow, another reason to hate the gods_, I thought sarcastically.

"He's decent, I helped him-" Jason began before Annabeth interrupted him.

"I'm sure we can discuss how great and terrible he is later, let's just focus on getting Piper there." Annabeth turned to Leo. "The Argo II can drop her off there?"

"We're close enough, but I need your help fixing the hull considering you're the only other person who knows anything about engineering," Leo stated.

"Wait, how do we know if it's a good idea to meet Bacchus? Aren't all the gods schizophrenic right now?" Frank questioned.

Due to Leo accidentally attacking New Rome, the Romans hate us, naturally. This made almost all the gods go crazy because their Roman sides are angry and junk.

"Well, Nemesis wasn't," Hazel pointed out.

"Well, good luck with that then." I patted Piper on the back.

"I can turn into a crow and scout for the Roman eagles," Frank suggested, leaning his bow against the rail of the ship.

"Why not a dragon? That'll be cool," Leo stated.

"Because turning into a dragon takes a lot of energy. You don't bench press weights all the time, right?" Frank replied defensively.

"I don't know man, I don't lift weights," Leo answered.

"Maybe you-"

Hazel got between them, shooting Leo an evil look. "I'll help, I'll get Arion to scout from the ground."

"That leaves Percy, Jason, Piper, and I. I think it'll be better if you three go on without me, I'll guard the ship or whatever," I stated.

"Just be careful or karpoi," Hazel advised, "there's a lot of fields here."

"Karpoi?" Piper questioned.

"Annoying grain spirits," I elaborated.

She nodded before Percy, Jason, and she climbed off the ship and into the fields.

I turned to the others. Frank had just turned into a crow and flew off while Hazel rode off on Arion. Leo and Annabeth were talking as they walked downstairs, and Hedge was heading down too.

Guess I'm alone then.

I walked around the ship, backflipping from the upper deck to the bottom part and nearly breaking my ankle.

"Fuck, not doing that again," I muttered, rubbing my ankle as I sat on the ground of the ship.

_What should I do?_ I asked myself mentally. _Train?_ I stood up and straight, ignoring the pain in my ankle. _Probably dislocated it or something_.

I went downstairs, ignoring Hedge's yells at the TV and grabbed my sword from my room before heading back upstairs.

I swung the sword from left to right, feeling my grip on it relax as I felt the familiar grips. I then summoned two skeletons from the earth, both of them being confederate ones for some reason. I hopped off the ship before duelling them, slashing at them and parrying strikes from their only blades.

I created an earthquake, knocking them back before stabbing one through the chest, causing it to explode in flames. I moved on to the next, stabbing it in the neck instead.

I relaxed after finishing them off, stretching my arms.

"Damn... Annabeth was right about you being good."

I turned, blushing when I realized Leo was watching me. "Um, thanks."

He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing too. "Uh, you want to get back on board? Annabeth said she needed your help with something."

"Um, sure," I replied.

He nodded, turning and heading back downstairs while I walked back towards the ship.

_"Leaving so soon?"_ A voice questioned from all around me.

I turned around, bringing out my sword the moment I recognize the voice. "And what do you want Gaea?"

_ "You on my side."_

"Not that I want you turning my friends against me but, why are you pinning after me? Aren't Percy, Hazel, and Jason powerful too? Like we're all children of the Big Three."

_ "Oh, I have. That pesky daughter of Pluto stopped my son from rising decades ago, and your two other friends are... important in other ways. They're busy elsewhere with my.. servants."_

I hesitated. "What did you do to them? What's happening?"

The grass around me shook as if Gaea was laughing, or more like mocking my confusion. _"You'll find out soon enough, young demigod."_

I felt something grab me by the ankle and I barely had time to call out before karpoi started to grab me from left and right.

"Let- me- WHY DOES THIS KEEP ON-" I yelled before something was shoved in my mouth.

Note to self: never train on land when the literal primordial of Earth is trying to persuade you to the dark side.

I tried screaming and wiggling free, losing my sword along the way.

"I say we should've grabbed the other demigod," one of the karpoi said from my right.

"The scary one with stones?"

"No, the bird."

I tried looking around for shadows, but the karpoi had pulled me onto the highway where there were no shadows in sight.

If I die because they don't understand how cars work and I get ran over- I'll kill Gaea as a fucking shade for hiring idiots.

A moment later, my arms and legs felt warm before I was dropped to the ground. I rolled away and jumped back, seeing the karpoi running around in flames screaming.

I spat out the grass they shoved in my mouth before backing up, hitting something, or rather, someone. I jumped once I turned to them, summoning my blades immediately.

"Woah, chill, it's me," Leo said, holding up his hands while stepping back.

I relaxed. "Thanks... um, how'd you find me? And what did you do to them?"

"Oh, I heard you screaming so I came up. Annabeth went to one side and I went this way," he answered, "and for the fire, I can do... um, this." He took a bigger step back and kept his hands up, bursting them into flames.

"Woah," I exclaimed, my reaction between shock and awe.

"Yeah... a gift from my dad apparently," he replied uncomfortably.

I glanced back the ashen remains of the karpoi, a chill going down my spine.

"L-let's get back to the Argo, I can shadow travel us," I offered.

"What? Like teleporting?" Leo questioned.

"Uh, not exactly," I stated, walking towards the grass in search of my sword first, "I basically just turn into a shadow and just move along them."

"Sweet! Does that mean you can shadow travel anywhere?"

"Only places I've been." I spotted my sword and picked it up, hooking it onto my belt before offering Leo my hand. "Shadow travel then?"

He nodded, grasping my hand.

I blushed before leaping into the nearest shadow and focussing on the mess hall in the ship.

* * *

Not long after getting back on the ship, Piper and the others returned. However, both boys were unconscious. Then, Leo set course to Atlanta on orders by Piper.

After the boys were up and feeling slightly better, we gathered in the mess hall while Hedge went upstairs to man the helm, or satyr the helm to be precise.

Piper explained how Bacchus abruptly left before these spirits possessed Percy and Jason and made them fight each other. Piper had to choose which one was to die, but she didn't choose either so they started fighting. Fortunately, well sort of, Jason got knocked out and Blackjack kicked Percy in the head.

"What did these spirits call themselves?" I questioned uneasily.

The aura in the room felt... off. It was as if something died, or was about to die, in the mess hall. It could've been the paranoia from getting nearly kidnapped in like three days but, who knows.

"They called themselves eidolons," Piper answered.

I froze. "E-eidolons you say?"

Annabeth read the fear off my face. "What? What's wrong with them?"

I took a shaky breath, looking down at my untouched pizza in an attempt to compose myself. "Besides the fact they're undead spirits that possess people, learning everything about them in seconds, nothing..."

"Well, those things must be what possessed Leo in New Rome!" Hazel exclaimed, slapping the table.

"Y-yeah... I did feel something there," I replied uneasily.

_What the actual Hades is wrong with me right now? They're just undead spirits that can possess you, nothing big. _I reassured myself mentally.

"And you didn't bother to tell us?" Jason questioned.

"I thought it was just the lares or something, they were everywhere," I defended myself.

"Well, now we know what happened in New Rome, but the Romans won't believe us anyway," Annabeth pointed out.

"I'm sure Reyna and some of the others would," Jason stated.

"And how will 'some' people convince a whole legion?" I inquired.

"I know you can, Pipes." Jason turned towards his girlfriend with a smile.

"They all know I can charmspeak, there's no point in arguing. Also, I saw Octavian rally the legion, Reyna can't stop them like Arina said," Piper said.

"Did you spot the eagles?" Annabeth asked Frank and Hazel.

"Yes, they're getting closer," Frank answered.

"Octavian's on a warpath, if Reyna disagrees with attacking us he'll claim she's soft for the Greeks." Hazel grimaced. "It's like those things can smell us."

"Oh, they can," Jason revealed, "Roman eagles can smell demigods possibly even better than monsters can."

"Great, so next time I build a giant flying ship, I'll add a chicken nugget smokescreen," Leo remarked.

"Or maybe anchovies, that'll throw them off the scent for sure," I suggested.

"It doesn't matter, once we're across the Atlantic they won't be able to catch us," Jason stated.

"If we even get across," I muttered pessimistically.

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth questioned, ignoring my comment.

"The Ancient Lands have been forbidden to Roman demigods for centuries. If we go there-" Jason began.

"We'll be traitors _and_ outlaws, any Roman that finds us is permitted to kill us on sight," Piper said with a pained expression.

"Yes, the place is filled with all sorts of dangerous monsters that could easily kill us. They'll safely assume we would all perish," Jason said.

Silence followed that.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Sunshine," Percy remarked sarcastically.

"Well, in the event we don't die or get caught, what are we going to do? Like, have we gotten a solid plan yet on how to save Nico and defeat Gaea?" I inquired.

The others were all busy staring at their plates in a depressed manner while Percy continued to eat his blue pizza.

Yes, blue. These are magical plates so I guess we could eat multicoloured food? Like Pretty Patties, right?

"Mr. D- Bacchus- _whatever_, he mentioned something about twins like Ella did. Two giants, Otis and something else with an F?" Percy guessed.

"Ephialtes," Jason corrected.

"Like the giants in Piper's knife." Annabeth played around with her goblet. "I remember a story about twin giants who tried to build a mountain to climb up to Olympus."

Frank paled, choking on his burrito. "Giants that can build mountains? Oh, great. And you said Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Don't doubt the gods, they can be pretty powerful when it benefits them," I said distastefully.

_Like driving my mom insane, thanks, Mr. D._

Silence followed that as we mulled this new information over.

"She wants two of us," Piper mumbled almost inaudibly.

"What?" Annabeth questioned.

All eyes went to Piper, which seemed to make her uncomfortable.

"Gaea wants the blood of two demigods, a girl and a boy. That's why she asked me to choose between Jason and Percy," she revealed.

"Well, you saved us, didn't you?" Jason pointed out.

"But why would she want demigod blood?"

"Oh, remember our favourite princess, Khione? She said Jason's blood would taint the Wolf House for decades or something," Leo stated.

_Wait, is that another reason why she wants me? As a sacrifice? Sacrifice for _what_? Does she want to use me to destroy my friends before taking me as a sacrifice? Great, another reason why I don't want to help her dumbass._

I didn't realize the others continued talking until Hazel tapped me on the shoulder worriedly.

"... we should all get some sleep," Annabeth finished, leaving me confused about what I missed when I zoned out.

"Wait," Piper said, looking worried.

"What?" Frank questioned.

"The eidolons, they're still here."

Her statement made the room go completely silent, the only source of the sound was Hedge singing upstairs and the whirl of the engine as we sailed to Atlanta. You could probably hear a pin drop, to be honest.

I squeezed my eyes shut, honing in on my life aura powers and seeking for the spirits. I gasped in pain a moment later, feeling as if a shard of ice stabbed me in the head. "S-s-she's right," I managed to say shakily.

"You sure?" Annabeth questioned.

I nodded. "I've s-s-seen them before, and I'm sure Hazel has as well."

Hazel nodded in agreement, still giving me a worried look. "I feel them too."

"Where?" Frank backed up as if that would stop the spirits from getting to him.

"They could be anywhere in this room, possessing anything... or anyone," I stated.

"Well, how do we get _rid_ of them?" Jason questioned, clenching his fist.

"I... I have an idea, but all of you have to listen," Piper said.

Something was different by the way she said that, it was as if she laced her words with something that made us all want to listen.

She met each of our eyes before saying, "Eidolons, raise your hands."

I winced, feeling a spike of pain in my head again.

Suddenly, Percy, Jason, and Leo's faces went slack before they all raised their hands. At this, Frank scrambled away from them while the others looked worried.

Piper tensed, looking worried. "Are there more of you on the ship?" she asked, looking at Leo because he was the far least intimidating.

_"No, the Earth mother sent the... three strongest. We shall live once more."_ Leo said, his eyes gold and his voice hollow.

"Not here," Piper muttered, "you three will leave this ship and never return."

_"No,"_ Percy hissed, his voice and eyes like Leo and Jason.

_"We must live,"_ Jason agreed.

"Gods that's creepy! Get out of here and leave our friends alone!" Frank stated, pressing his back against the wall.

_"You do not control us, child of war. Your own life could burn up in seconds,"_ Leo said, staring at Frank creepily.

Frank drew his bow, shaking. "I-I'm not scared of you! I've b-beat monsters a hundred times stronger!"

"Frank, they're just trying to trick you," Hazel warned, pushing his bow down as Jason drew his sword.

"Stop!" Piper ordered, making us all freeze as my headache worsen.

Imagine an ice cream headache, brain-freeze, whatever, times a hundred. It was hard to even think straight as the icy headache interrupted every thought I had. Unfortunately, my friends didn't even notice the pain I was in because of the others.

"Listen to Piper," Hazel ordered, looking at our possessed friends.

_"You do not control us-"_ Jason began.

I stood up, slamming my hands on the table. "Well, _I_ do."

The temperature dropped in the room, making the room so cold we could see each other's breaths. The lights flickered as well, making the shadows grow bigger and reach towards me.

"You will listen to Piper, leave our friends' bodies, and never possess anyone on this ship ever, fucking, again," I ordered, focussing on the aura of the undead before nodding to Piper.

Piper took a deep breath. "You will leave these bodies," she directed, her voice sounding much stronger than before.

_Must be confidence and charm_\- I thought before wincing, rubbing the side of my head.

Jason had a pain look on his face, sweat beading on his forehead. _"We-we will leave these bodies."_

"You vow on the River Styx to never return to this ship and never possess any member of this crew," Piper commanded.

Leo hissed in reply.

"You will vow on the River Styx," Piper repeated.

After a few tense seconds, they replied in unison. "We vow on the River Styx."

"You are dead," Piper stated.

"We are dead."

"Now _leave._"

All three boys fell, Percy into his pizza, Piper caught Jason falling out of his chair, and Leo just hit the ground, Frank not bothering to catch him.

The headache was still there, but at least I could think now, sort of. It was in between a dull ache and a skull-splitting headache if that makes sense.

Leo sat up, having a piece of pasta on his head in the shape of a lightning bolt sat up. "Did it work?"

They all looked at me then, Annabeth finally noticing that I was wincing.

"Are you okay, Arina?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, "also, I think the eidolons are gone."

"Does this mean I can stop getting head injuries?" Jason inquired, holding his head.

* * *

I was sitting in the crow's nest of the ship, eating a bag of chips I got from the mess hall while admiring the sunset. Down below, Piper and Jason were talking and Leo was manning the ship.

I rubbed the side of my head, the headache lessening since I ate the chips. _Maybe chips help?_ I thought optimistically.

After I finished the chips, I looked up at the darkening sky, lying down across the crow's nest and admiring the stars, which were very visible that night.

_Why does Gaea keep on bothering me? I get she wants to use me, but why hasn't she given up? It's not like I'll just comply and betray the gods, again. Maybe there's another reason she's bothering me?_ I tried figuring out what Gaea wanted, not noticing the person sitting down beside me.

"Whatcha looking at?"

I jumped up into a sitting position, backing myself against one side of the nest.

"Chill, just me, creator of this glorious ship," Leo joked, leaning on the opposite side.

I blushed, embarrassed about how I reacted. "Oh, hey."

"Whatcha looking at?" he asked, looking up at the sky too.

"Um, just the stars," I replied, glancing at him.

"Cool." He pulled out some sort of gadget from his overalls and started fidgetting with it. In a matter of seconds, it became this little wheel that had lever moving on its own.

"Woah, how'd you do that?" I inquired in awe, leaning closer.

Leo looked up, holding the contraption up. "This? It was pretty easy." He began to explain how the gears moved the lever through some stuff that was super complicated that I didn't understand a thing he said.

I didn't realize how late it got when I started yawning.

Leo yawned in reply.

"We should get to sleep," I suggested, standing up and stretching.

"I have to man the ship still," Leo stated, gesturing towards the helm.

I raised my eyebrow, skeptical. "No sleep then?"

"I'll sleep later." He shrugged.

"Sleep deprivation isn't great, just saying," I pointed out teasingly.

"I'll be fine, sweetheart," he stated with a wink, making me blush.

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna get any sleep, mind if I join you?"

"If you want." Leo stood.

We both climbed down to the main deck before Leo led me towards the upper deck where the control panel was.

The control panel was pretty fancy, it had all these weird knobs and buttons but I'm pretty sure the ship was controlled by this Wii controller and some other random junk.

"How does this even work anyway?" I held up the Wii controller and the ship tilted to the side before Leo snatched it out of my hand.

"Um, don't do that," he said with a nervous smile, readjusting the ship's position before putting it back on the panel.

"So..." I began awkwardly, "only you and Annabeth know how to man this ship?"

"Yep."

"Isn't that kinda bad? Like, what if you were both gone or something- how would we fly?" I inquired skeptically.

"Oh, right, heh." He scratched the back of his neck, realizing the flaw.

I glanced at him before looking at the control panel with interest. "No offence, but it can't be that hard, right? Do you mind teaching me or something?"

Leo's eyes lit up. "Well, you're a cute girl asking for help so sure." He winked before stepping beside me, making me blush by how close we were.

Oh my gods why is he such a flirt- I'm not complaining though.

"So, how actually do I use all this stuff?" I inquired.

"Well," Leo began explaining all the switches, buttons, and game controllers to me. He then showed me how to steer the ship.

Turns out- it was just as complicated as it looked and my dumb brain couldn't figure anything out no matter how many times Leo tried to explain.

"Try steering the ship to the left," Leo suggested.

At least Leo didn't yell at me when I got stuff wrong, that's a plus.

I pressed a button and the ship dropped a good forty feets before I managed to stabilize it with another button.

"Well, at least you know how to keep the ship up." He was gripping the railings, not looking that mad. He actually looked close to laughing.

"Ugh, I'm so stupid." I dropped my head on the control panel away from the buttons.

"No, you're doing grate! You're really gouda," he joked with a wink.

I turned my head and stared at him. "Did you legit just make a- no, _two_ cheese jokes?"

"Yep."

I chuckled, turning my head so my face was on the wooden panel.

"Just trying to cheer you up."

"Sorry, but it's not working."

An awkward silence followed that.

"Um, maybe you can show me something else?" I suggested, lifting my head up and noticing Leo playing around with something in his hands.

It was this little spindle that spun around when he wound up the side. Again, cool. How does he make stuff like that so easily? Must be a perk of being a son of Hephaestus.

"Sure, the engine then?"

I nodded in agreement before Leo led me downstairs.

"Onwards!" he joked as we walked down the hall.

"Shush!" I whispered, glancing around, especially at Hedge's door. "How do we explain why we're both still awake?"

Leo shrugged before we walked down another flight of stairs and opened the door to the engine room.

I stepped inside, avoiding several pipes. _How the Hades did I managed to slide around in here this afternoon? _I questioned myself internally.

The engine was a mess if you asked me, pipes and things everywhere. Also, Annabeth said it's 'unlikely' to explode.

I didn't like the 'unlikely' part.

"So, whatcha gonna show me?"

"How to fix the engine." Leo pulled on his goggles.

"But I thought the engine's fine?" I caught the goggles he threw at me after.

"Well, probably." He shrugged before tightening a bolt, which made some steam come out of the side.

I stared at him, minorly alarmed. "What do you mean by _probably_? What happens if it's not?"

"We all die."

"Dude!" I exclaimed before he shushed me with a teasing look.

"Thought you said we can't be too loud?"

"Oh my gods," I groaned in annoyance.

"Chill, I'm kidding," Leo reassured.

"Ugh, you better be, I like to live a bit longer," I remarked, crossing my arms.

"Anyway, here's a wretch." He held out a wretch for me. "Just tighten a couple of these bolts and stuff."

I nodded, putting the wretch on the bolts and tightening it like how Leo was doing it. Worse comes to worst, I blow up the ship, right?

* * *

We ended up working into the sunrise- which when things got even more eventful. Turns out, Annabeth and Percy went missing and everyone thought they were kidnapped so we ended up scouring the ship- but turns out they fell asleep together in the stables.

Hedge was furious, Piper and Jason were more relieved, Hazel seemed utterly scandalized, Frank was scared of Hedge, Leo was saying 'classic', and I was teasing them further.

"So, you guys just kissed and talked? Nothing else, you know-" I began with a smirk.

Annabeth turned a bright shade of red. "We didn't do anything else!"

"Uh-huh, sure, and I'm the daughter of Zeus," I remarked sarcastically.

"You two are in so much trouble! Annabeth, I thought you had more sense!" Hedge exclaimed, clopping back and forth.

"She does- just not with Percy," I stated, trying not to laugh, "she did once-"

"Arina, you're not helping," Percy said seriously.

"I know, I never do."

"Anyway, we have more important things to discuss." Percy started explaining his dreams.

According to his dreams, there were two giants planning our theatrical demise and Nico was dying of suffocation with our stepmother's pomegranate seeds with him.

Hazel looked close to tears at the news of this while I tried to maintain level headed. Eh, it sort of worked.

"When I get my hands on those giants," I threatened as the temperature dropped in the room and the lights flickered.

"What are those seeds?" Percy inquired.

"There from our stepmom's garden- only children of Hades can eat them. They help us survive- but it's the last resort. It drains a lot of our energy, but it makes us not need air or anything. We enter something called a Death Trance. One seed a day keeps us alive," I explained.

"Well, it's obviously a trap," Annabeth remarked.

"But we're gonna save Nico though, right?" Hazel questioned pleadingly.

Hedge nodded excitedly. "There's fighting so yes!"

Wow, he's so different than Grover. Grover freaked out when we were going to go to the Underworld but, Hedge would probably go down there wielding a baseball bat while screaming.

"Yeah, of course, but how much time do we have?" Frank asked nervously.

"Five seeds, five days," Percy stated.

"Okay, great, we have five days to get to Ancient Rome and save my brother from dying, great," I stated sarcastically.

Piper's eyes widened then. "Wait, what's Nico's full name?"

"Nico di Angelo, why?"

"Angelo means angel- that's what the prophecy meant when it said 'twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death''," Piper explained.

"Oh, great," I muttered.

"Wait, the giants are expecting us though, are we waltzing into a trap?" Leo questioned.

"You're suggesting we leave my brother to die? Even though he's important to the prophecy?" I questioned in a threatening way.

"Arina, we're not suggesting that, but-" Jason began.

"But what?" I snapped.

"Nico knew about both camps but didn't tell either of us, don't you find that a bit suspicious? How do we know we can trust him?"

Hazel stood up to, looking ready to cry. "How could you say that? Nico saved me! I can't believe I used to look up to you!" she stormed out of the room, a couple of metal trays crashing into the walls after her.

Frank stood up, ready to go after her but Piper stopped him.

"Give her some time, she just needs to cool off. I'll go check on her in a few minutes," Piper suggested, which Frank reluctantly agreed too.

I glared at Leo and Jason before shadow travelling out of the room as well, appearing on the crow's nest.

I sat down and stared up at the sky in frustration, angry and mostly offended they even _considered_ not saving Nico. He's my freaking brother! _To think, I liked Leo,_ I thought.

I played around with my bracelet until Annabeth came up on the crow's nest, probably being chosen to check on me about what the boys said.

"You know they meant well," she reasoned.

"Yeah... whatever," I muttered.

"They're just thinking about the worst-case scenario- Nico obviously was at both camps for a reason. If it was something bad, the gods would've intervened already," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yes, like how they knew I wasn't actually dead and was just working for Kronos," I spat, pulling my knees up my chest.

Annabeth sighed, leaning against the side. "Anyway, we started discussing what to do now that we're in Atlanta."

"Wait, we already arrived?" I looked over the side and noticed we were near a city.

Atlanta looked like every other city I've been too, busy and crowded. People milled around, going through their everyday lives oblivious to the fact gods and monsters exist. Gods, I wished I still had that innocence sometimes.

"Yeah, anyway, Percy and I are 'grounded' and can't be alone together anymore. Also, Percy, Hedge, and Frank went off to find Phorcys," she explained.

I nodded, looking out at the city, sighing. "So, we're just supposed to sit here like sitting ducks for the Romans?"

"Percy said he wouldn't take that long."

I looked down at my bead necklace, fidgeting with it and trying to ignore the mass amount of guilt I had when I touched the bead from last summer with the names of the fallen campers on it.

_ Y__ou didn't kill them- Kronos' army did- but I was apart of it... _I bit my lip nervously, feeling more guilty than ever.

"You wanna spar or something?" Annabeth asked, seeming to notice my silence and upset expression.

"Sure." I stood up stretching before climbing down with her.

"So, my dagger versus your sword? Or you want to fight with your blades?"

I spun the rings around my fingers. "I'm way too rusty with my sword."

"So that means you're gonna lose?" she questioned with a smirk.

"Oh, you wish, just lemme get my sword." I raced down the steps, nearly running into Leo and Hazel on my way to my room.

"What are you doing?" Hazel yelled as I pulled my door open.

"Getting my sword!"

Wait, why didn't I just shadow travel to my room? Whatever, too late now.

After coming back up with a sword, Annabeth and I stood across from each other while Hazel watched and Leo pretended he wasn't.

"No powers," Annabeth ordered.

"I'm the only _with_ powers in this fight, but sure," I replied, stretching.

We narrowed our eyes at each other before I lept forward first, trying to hit her side but she managed to dodge and jab at my undefended left. I barely had enough time to parry before flipping her blade into the air and trying to swipe her legs out. She used my momentum and knocked me down. I soon got up and backflipped over her similar to the way I did with Luke years ago. I ended up with my sword at her neck, smirking.

"Guess I'm not that rusty, huh?"

"Actions speak louder than words." She ducked under the blade and slammed her elbow into my wrist, making me drop my blade.

I summoned my other blades quickly after, parrying another strike.

"I doubt that's fair."

"No powers; these are just blades," I responded, feinting a strike before uppercutting her with the hilt of my blade.

She stumbled back, glaring at me before leaping up and cutting down my right arm. She jumped back after, preparing to make another swipe but I dodged and kicked her legs out from under her.

I kneeled on top of her, holding one of my blades at her throat. "Yield?"

She sighed, nodding.

I got off of her, helping her up with my uninjured arm but still wincing from the pain of the other. "Nice fight."

"Nice? That was epic- like some sort of Iron Man movie scene!" Leo exclaimed from the bow of the ship.

"Yeah, that was amazing- and you didn't even use your powers." Hazel nodded in agreement.

"Heh, thanks, I guess..." I replied, picking up my sword and heading downstairs.

"You good, Arina?" Annabeth questioned.

"Yeah, just gonna patch up my arm."

* * *

After an eventful trip to an aquarium, Hedge, Percy, and Frank informed us they met Phorcys and Keto. Apparently, they got trapped, but they found out useful info on how to find this statue called the Athena Parthenos, something capable of fixing the Greek/Roman divide.

Now, we were setting course to Charleston.

I pushed around my food as the others discussed the plan, playing around with the bandage on my arm as well.

It reality, it didn't take that long to get there. However, we stopped in some fort not long before. Jason recommended it and headed off with Piper, but apparently he encountered Reyna. She warned them that the Roman eagles are closing in. She was also talking to some sort of spirit, but I wasn't there so I couldn't track it down.

Once we arrived in Charleston and dock in a harbour. Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and I then decided to go off looking for the spirit while Jason, Frank, and Leo went off to look at the museum for clues. Of course, Percy went off into the water to find a way to free the numerous sea monsters that were held captive in the Atlanta aquarium and Hedge 'guarded' the ship.

I managed to track down the spirit not long after we set off, but something about the spirit's aura seemed... off.

"No spirit glows that brightly," Hazel pointed out as we neared it.

We arrived in some sort of garden with flowers everywhere and a gazebo. There were a few pedestrians strolling through, admiring the plants and taking group photos together. It seemed would've been the perfect place for a girls' day out if it weren't for the fact we were supposed to be preventing a war.

I closed my eyes, trying to sense the spirit but felt something else. More like, a _godly_ aura. A familiar, and annoying one to be exact.

I narrowed my eyes, marching up to the 'spirit'.

The spirit turned around, revealing itself to be a very beautiful woman with coppery brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. She was wearing a traditional Greek chiton with red heels and a golden laurel in her hair.

"You," I stated, crossing my arms.

"Aphrodite!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Venus!" Hazel said instead.

"Mom," Piper groaned.

"Girls! It's so wonderful to see you! We must chat and have tea!"

We were transported onto the gazebo, sat down around a circular table with scent-changing tea and numerous treats on it.

Aphrodite sat in a large, peacock, wicker chair. She poured us tea and gave us cakes seamlessly as if she does tea and biscuits with demigods daily.

"I do love Charleston! The weddings, parties, oh, every event here was spectacular!" Aphrodite exclaimed, her perfectly white teeth shining.

The others talked to her as I felt another headache, not that bad as with the eidolons, but still enough to distract me from their conversation.

I tried eating a cake to distract myself, but it really didn't help.

"Arina?"

I jumped, realizing Piper had tapped me on the shoulder and looked at me, concerned.

"What?"

"Ah! Arina! I didn't really get to enjoy our last chat considering your step-mother was there- but I must say, I'm proud of what you did in Alaska," Aphrodite said, beaming.

I felt my face turn bright red in embarrassment. "I don't wanna talk about that." I stuffed a cookie in my mouth as my headache grew steadily worse.

"Anyway, I did promise I'll make Annabeth's love life interesting, didn't I?" Aphrodite questioned.

Annabeth's expression hardened as her grip on the teacup tightened, surprisingly not breaking off the handle. "Interesting is... one way to put it."

"And of course, there's poor Arina here, who's boyfriend was killed!"

I looked down at my lap, biting my lip as I felt Piper and Hazel's eyes move towards me curiously. I hated the attention.

"Whatever- why are you here?" I snapped, breaking a cookie in half and tossing it towards a group of birds.

"Oh! To help, of course, you see Hera isn't that popular right now in Olympus, and the other gods are disposed of right now."

Great, we have revenge, wine, and love sane. So, helpful.

I'm being sarcastic.

Aphrodite began explaining how to find the Mark of Athena, the so-called statue to fix the Greek/Roman divide. Apparently, it can't be found easily. Annabeth has to follow a 'bread crumb trail' and hope for the best basically.

However, before she could tell us more, Hazel spotted the Roman eagles and we had to make a run for the ship. Unfortunately, before we could get to the ship, we were cornered at the docks by Octavian and two burly Romans.

"Surrender to Rome!" Octavian proclaimed.

I brought out my blades, glaring at him and feeling the ground shake.

"Uh uh! No funny business!" he yelled.

"Octavian, we can explain-" Piper began.

"Nope! Can't hear you! Wax in ears- used for fighting sirens!" he shouted, pointing towards his ears.

"Let me skewer him," Hazel said.

Annabeth looked around, trying to figure something out.

"Drop your weapons," he ordered.

Annabeth's eyes lit up before she pulled out her dagger. She held it out before tossing it far into the water with an innocent expression.

"I said drop it! Not toss it!" Octavian exclaimed.

She gave a dumb-blonde look, shrugging.

"You three-" he started before the water erupted, soaking us all and tossing Octavian and his lackeys into the water.

I turned, seeing Percy standing on the edge of the dock with Annabeth's dagger.

"You dropped this," he said, expressionless.

Annabeth threw her arms around Percy, kissing him. "I love you!"

Octavian and his lackeys were in the water, struggling to swim and yelling curses at us. One of them kept on being jumped on my Octavian- who didn't look like he knew how to swim.

"Are they gonna drown?" Hazel questioned, seeming mildly upset.

"Let them." I glared at the three Romans in the water.

"Um- they won't. The water's circulation is keeping them afloat, once we leave they'll be spat back on," Percy reassured Hazel while casting me a weird glance as my headache finally disappeared.

"Nice," Piper commented.

"Let's just get back to the ship- Annabeth you get to Fort Sumter while we IM Jason and get the ship ready. The Romans might've brought their strongest to take us down," I remarked, glancing at the sky and seeing the golden eagles of the Romans fly around.

The others nodded before we ran towards the ship and climbed aboard, sans Annabeth, of course. We started to move around and get ready to leave when the Romans started to attack.

Frank, Leo, and Jason were flying in before getting knocked down, crashing in Fort Sumter. We had to make a detour to rescue them but that resulted in the side of the ship raking against the fort.

"Percy, can you whip up some sort of storm?" I questioned as Hedge started firing at eagles and yelling.

"Yeah, maybe, why?"

"I have an idea- and if Jason gets here in time he can help."

I jumped off the ship and slammed my sword into the ground, creating a giant fissure in the ground before skeletal hands emerged from the cracks. Hundreds of skeletons appeared from the crack, overwhelming some Romans and horrifying tourists.

I summoned a few more skeletons before shadow travelling on the ship.

Not long after the skeletons started wreaking havoc on the legionnaires, Leo, Frank, and Jason clambered aboard.

"Jason- you think you and Percy and cook up a storm?" I asked, ignoring how drained I felt from summoning the skeletons.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it'll be the perfect distraction, duh."

Jason nodded before lightning crackled in the sky as the ocean's water started to churn and rise from Percy. In a matter of seconds, all three of us were harnessing our powers, Percy with the water, Jason with the weather, and me with the Mist and shadows.

Days ago when I first met Jason, I thought he would be some sort of rival to Percy- but the way they worked together was amazing. Perfect sync if you asked me. Then, there was me, of course, being just there and not really helping considering I wasn't on land.

I created multiple clones of the ship and ourselves with the Mist, throwing off at least half of the eagles and charioteers before Hedge shot them down. Then I manipulated the shadows to hide our own ship, which wasn't the best idea considering Annabeth still needed to find us in the end.

I ignored the sounds around us as I focussed on taking down the Romans and protecting the ship and my friends. That was the main thing I concentrated on- blocking out all other distractions and throwing my whole body, mind, and soul into manipulating my powers to every extent I could.

"Guys! GO!"

I heard a female voice yell before the ship flew up courtesy of Leo and Jason, a giant wave of darkness and water following behind to block the Romans from seeing us.

* * *

I slumped against the mast, struggling to stay conscious as my head pounded and my whole body ached.

After we got away from Fort Sumter and was safely back in the water, Percy, Jason, and I practically collapsed from exhaustion. Now, Hazel, Piper, and Annabeth were trying to get us to eat or drink something to regain our strength.

My headache was worse than all the ones before- and that was saying something. Maybe even worse than that time I got my memories realtered or the eidolons tried controlling me.

Percy and Jason were able to talk, somewhat, to the others but I felt too weak to. It was hard enough staying conscious at all.

"That was great guys, but it really sapped all of your energy," Annabeth remarked, trying to coax Percy into drinking water.

_Passing out seems like a good idea... staying conscious isn't_\- I was cut off mid-thought when I doubled-over in pain, feeling like I was speared in the gut by some sword. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for the pain to stop.

"Did the world turn upside down?" a voice sounding like Percy asked.

"Yeah- and is everything yellow? Is it supposed to be yellow?" another voice inquired, sounding like Jason.

I opened my eyes, seeing everything had darkened and turned a purplish colour. "N-no... it's purple and black..." I murmured before I fell to the ground, giving up on sitting normally.

"Arina!"

I felt someone help me up, but I was too weak to help so it was like picking up a rag doll filled with bricks.

"You guys need to rest," Annabeth said when I opened my eyes again.

I was lying on my left side, being flipped over from my front by someone. Still hurt either way.

"Frank? Leo? Can you help?"

I heard agreements before my arm was slung over someone's shoulder.

"Wow- you're heavy," a voice remarked closed to my face, probably being the person carrying me.

"Thanks for the compliment, asshat," I grumbled to whoever it was.

"Damn, I was just stating, no need to hate."

I rolled my eyes before squeezing them shut, feeling another pounding headache emerging from my small argument.

It was difficult to form a coherent thought- everything merging together into a blurry mess inside my head as I was carried/dragged to my room or the sickbay.

I was laid/sat down on something moderately soft before being given I think nectar- or maybe ambrosia. My brain was too fuzzy to tell if I was chewing or drinking honestly.

** (Thanks for reading y'all! Sorry if Leo, Piper, Jason, Frank, or Hazel seem OOC, I haven't read the Heroes of Olympus for a while and I'm slowly rereading the series right now. I'll come back and fix it later if needed.)**


	31. AN (HIATUSNOT CANCELLED)

Hey everyone! I have some unfortunate news for the readers of my fanfics. I've decided to go on a hiatus for the rest of summer so I can focus on school- I'm really sorry everyone. Summer school's a lot harder than I originally thought. I'll be back writing and posting on September 7 and onwards. I'll try to be more consistent in the fall once I get back to normal school. This story is NOT cancelled. I just wanna focus on school, and, y'know, graduate.

I'm truly sorry for any inconvenience to my readers out there. I will be active on my Instagram account for other reasons though.

Thank you all for understanding, following, and favouriting my story. I will be back as soon as I can, so hopefully September 7th!


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